Friday, May 2, 2025

NCAA plans to open 5 more regional offices – DG

Must read

Maryam Hassan
Maryam Hassan
Ibrahim Ramalan is a graduate of Mass Communications from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria. With nearly a decade-long, active journalism practice, Mr Ramalan has been able to rise from a cub reporter to the exalted position of an editor; first as Arts Editor with the Blueprint Newspapers before resigning in 2019; second and presently as an Associate Editor of the Daily Nigerian online newspaper. He can be reached via ibroramalan@gmail.com, or www.facebook.com/ibrahim.ramalana, or @McRamalan on Twitter.
- Advertisement -
tiamin rice
tiamin rice

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, on Wednesday announced plans to open more regional offices as part of its efforts to bring regulation closer to the operators.

The NCAA Director-General, Captain Musa Nuhu, made this known during the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation oversight visit to the agency in Lagos.

Mr Nuhu explained that the step was to reduce the cumbersome nature of regulation and come closer to the operators in the industry.

tiamin rice

He said: “We are opening five more regional offices to ensure the job in smaller areas get done and they do not have to refer to Lagos or Abuja.

READ ALSO:   117 stranded Nigerians evacuated from Libya

“This will brings regulation closer to the operators outside Lagos and Abuja.

“Already, Port Harcourt takes care of the South-East and South-South but we are looking at opening a regional office in Enugu for the South-East.

“We are looking at another one in either Maiduguri or Yola for the North-East, Ilorin for the middle-belt and Uyo or Calabar for the South-South.”

Mr Nuhu explained that the training for the inspectors and other regulatory staff was key to the authority oversight function.

whatsApp

The director-general decried a situation where NCAA was competing for manpower, especially pilots and engineers, with airlines that paid better.

Mr Nuhu, however, said that the training was key because those inspectors with the NCAA needed more training to be better or at par with the trends in the industry.

READ ALSO:   Nigerian market traders association appoints Aminu Dantata as patron

“This will also allow the pilots and engineers to do their job professionally; so to retain them, there is need to make the remuneration nearly at par with the airlines to keep them with us,” he said.

Mr Nuhu said NCAA and the domestic airlines had reached a compromise to ensure debts owed it was reconciled and agreed on payment plan that would be favourable to all concerned.

The director-general reel out some of the immediate needs of NCAA, adding that the regulator understood the difficulty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic to airlines.

Mr Nuhu said that the authority would institute a payment plan that would be favourable to both the agency and operators.

READ ALSO:   Nigeria records 20,000 cases of snake bites, 2,000 deaths annually — Minister

Reacting, Nnolim Nnaji, Chairman, House Committee on Aviation, said the House was on its oversight function to look at what the NCAA had done and intends to do with the funds allocated and would be allocated to it.

He commended NCAA on how it handled the industry during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NAN

- Advertisement -

More articles

- Advertisement -

Latest article

- Advertisement -