Body Makes Case For 200 Sacked NCAA Staff

President Goodluck Jonathan (right) with the visiting President John Mahama of Ghana, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja last Monday. Photo: NAN

An aviation research body,
Centre for Aviation Safety and Research (CASR), has urged the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to carry out the directive of the Minister of Aviation, Mr Osita Chidoka by recalling over 200 staff of the regulatory agency whose jobs were terminated shortly after its Director General, Capt. Usman Mukhtar, resumed office in 2014.
The body cautioned that allowing the controversies surrounding the staff could derail the focus of the industry’s oversight regulatory authority especially when it is expected to play host to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit committee in June.
CASR president and a former engineer with the defunct Nigeria Airways, Mr Sheri Kyari told journalists that the sack of the workers, which was premised on the fact that their recruitment was allegedly laced with irregularities has since been dismissed by the ministry of aviation.
Kyari said: The resultant effect of the sack, also got some directors suspended but have been recalled to their duty posts while the innocent staff employed are still in the cold.
It has, however, been established that the then acting DG followed due process before employing these staff and consequently asked the DG to recall these staff to the regulatory body, a situation that is foot-dragging at best.
The appeal document explained: In consideration of the harsh economic conditions in the country, I will appeal to the Hon. Minister of Aviation to consider restoring to the duty posts of these Nigerians, some of whom had earlier left their former employments for the aviation experience. It would be to the credit of the Minister to also temper justice with mercy”.
He added: “They are Nigerians and not foreigners. The multiplier effect arising from the challenges they are passing through at present and on their dependents is better imagined, as two hundred of them can translate to at least over two thousand other Nigerians who depend on them for their daily survival, growth and development”.
The statement further said the pressure on the NCAA DG over the situation is better imagined and is capable of undermining his efforts to pilot the affairs of the authority effectively.
“They are forced to go into the already over bloated unemployment market. This action can make some of them to stay for years without employment”.
CASR also said that “the Minister of Aviation has taken some bold steps in transforming the industry and is hoping to bring in investors to support the growth and development of the industry, it therefore means that the need for experienced hands at the authority will be imminent.