Association Harps On Aviation, Transport Ministries Merger

Members of Aviation Round Table (ART), on Friday urged the Federal Government to merge the Ministry of Aviation with that of Transport.
Reports say that the stakeholders made the call at a roundtable held to review the “State of the Aviation Industry”, in Lagos.
They also suggested that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), should be granted full autonomy.
President of ART, Mr Gbenga Olowo said the merger of the two ministries will give clear focus and direction to their parastatals as against the present situation where they are seen as serving two masters.
According to him, this will lead to uniformity of policies, reduce corruption and inefficiency, as well as reduce waste in governance.
He advocated the strengthening of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency.
Olowo said rather than bailing out struggling airlines, AMCON, NCAA and the Securities and Exchange Commission, should work together to midwife two or three vibrant airlines.
“If Nigeria has two to three vibrant and competitive airlines, it will have a tremendous effect on the economy of the entire West African sub-region”, he said.
According to him, most of the private airlines operating presently are at the dictates of the owners who often divert profits from the airlines to some other businesses.
He said government should encourage joint ownership of airlines by Nigerians and foreigners alike.
“The private airlines should be encouraged to be listed by the Nigerian Stock Exchange and on the basis of participatory ownership which should involve members of the public buying their shares.
He added that they were opposed to fresh multi-billion naira bail out for debt-ridden airlines by the Assets Management Company.
The Secretary of ART Mr. John Ojikutu said Nigeria should review its Bilateral Air Service Agreements because it was having negative impact on its domestic carriers.
Ojikutu also called for full autonomy of the NCAA to enable the regulatory agency to perform its statutory duties more efficiently.

Corlins Walter