Aviation
Safety : FAAN Reviews Airport Emergency Plan
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has reviewed its Airport Emergency Plan (AEP) to enhance safety of lives and property during incidents and accidents.
The review was concluded by FAAN last Wednesday, during a stakeholders meeting at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.
The stakeholders who participated in the review include aviation agencies, security agencies, emergency response agencies, airline operators, ground handling companies as well as community leaders.
In her welcome address, Regional General Manager, South West Airports, FAAN, Mrs Victoria Shin-Abba, said the AEP was one of the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
Shin-Abba said:” The objective of airport emergency planning is to anticipate the effects an emergency may have on life, property and aerodrome operations.
“It is also to prepare courses of action to minimise these effects, particularly in respect to saving of lives.”
According to her, it also clarifies roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders and establishes a mechanism for feedback and recommendations for programme improvement.
She noted that previous air incidents in the country had made it necessary for all stakeholders to work together toward achieving the common goal of minimising the impact on lives and property.
Shin-Abba charged the stakeholders to be alive to their specific responsibilities as detailed in chapter four of the AEP, stressing that this would help to reduce fatalities during air accidents.
Also, Principal Airport Fire Officer, MMIA, Mr Uche Igumba, said that the AEP was set up in 2017 and was therefore due for a review to allow the stakeholders to make fresh inputs that would ensure better implementation.
Igumba commended the stakeholders for their support towards its success, noting that the MMIA had excelled in various mock safety exercises conducted in the past two years.
He said that they should, however, remain vigilant because incidents and accidents were part of aviation and there was need to always be prepared to activate the emergency response plan.
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Aviation Professionals Want Agencies Boards’ Inauguration
As a measure to curb corruption and restore accountability, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), has called on the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, to push for the urgent formation and inauguration of governing boards for all other aviation agencies.
ANAP’s Secretary General, AbdulRasaq Saidu, made this call at the weekend when interacting with aviation correspondents, in reaction to recent inauguration of Board of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
Keyamo had recently inaugurated the FAAN board, more than six months after its members were appointed by President Bola Tinubu, where Dr. Umar Ganduje was named Board Chairman, with FAAN’s Managing Director, Olubunmi Kuku, as the Vice Chairman.
Other board members include representatives from the Ministries of Justice, Defence, Tourism, and Aviation, as well as professionals from the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, and FAAN’s legal department.
The ANAP scribe there urged the aviation Minister not to stop at FAAN but to ensure that all aviation parastatals are given functional boards to restore order and credibility to the sector.
He, however, commended Keyamo for recently inaugurating the board of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria but stressed that more needed to be done.
Saidu also warned that the continued delay in constituting boards for other aviation agencies creates room for unchecked abuses, including illegal contracts, fraudulent employment practices, and mismanagement.
“The absence of governing boards violates the enabling Acts that established these agencies. Only properly constituted boards can enforce discipline, ensure due process in decision-making, and provide oversight to prevent corruption”, Saidu said.
He emphasised that the aviation unions, including ANAP, have consistently raised concerns about poor governance and lack of transparency within the aviation system.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to act swiftly by appointing board members for all relevant agencies, in the interest of fairness and aviation safety.
Saidu also tackled the former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, for failing to inaugurate any boards during his eight-year tenure, despite appointments being made by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“ANAP raised the alarm several times under Sirika’s leadership, but nothing changed. That lapse has continued under the current administration, and it must be addressed now”, Saidu stated.
By: Corlins Walter
