The amendment of the 2006 civil aviation act to reflect the
present realities in civil aviation is commendable and long
overdue considering a review is necessary every five years at
most. The goal of the amendments is to have a National Civil
Aviation Policy that promotes a harmonized approach for
sustaining the best global practices in the management of the
various aspects of civil aviation and to have a regulator which
is vested with the independent responsibility for safety, security
oversight and economic regulation of the aviation industry in
accordance with all international conventions and agreements,
government policies and International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices
(SARPs).
The institution given this responsibility is the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA) which is an agency under the
supervision of the ministry of aviation.
The 2006 act gave the Ministry of aviation some roles that
conflicts with the NCAA, such as co-ordination, formulation,
and review as well as monitoring of the implementation of
aviation technical policies with emphasis on the promotion of
safety and security of civil aviation in Nigeria in accordance
with international standards and best practices.
They were also assigned the supervision of the design,
construction and maintenance of Federal Government owned
airstrips and aerodromes including other non-revenue
generating facilities of the aviation industry.
Also some of the responsibilities of Economic Regulation unit
in the ministry and the proposed Nigerian Aviation Economic
Regulatory body that died during incubation, hopefully never to
be conceptualized again, should be in the Air Transport
Regulations Directorate in the NCAA, a directorate capable
and empowered to handle the responsibilities stated above
The Public Service Obligation (PSO) route in the act has never
been implemented despite its numerous benefits to economy
in general and the unserved communities in particular. PSO
routes was to ensure Nigerians in remote and underserved
communities have reasonable access to air services to major
cities and other key centers, including routes that are not
commercially viable. The federal government has not shown
any interest in this direction rather it’s the state government that
have been subsidizing such flights.
The licensing of a new category of carriers can help in this
direction, simply labelled Commuter Carriers with the
maximum aggregate passenger seats of all aircrafts in its fleet
not exceeding 100 seats, if a Commuter Carrier fleet seats
exceed the maximum, it must recertify as a Major Domestic
Carrier. The commuters can operate to these underserved
cities using the public service obligation route
On the establishment of an independent body to coordinate
search and rescue in the event of an emergency, this is not
necessary as the existing structure within Nigerian Airspace
Management Agency (NAMA) is effective with the
establishment of Rescue Coordination Centers (RCC). The
existing operational framework suffices
A national aviation security committee should be established
and replicated at the different airports while a section for drones
and cyber security be activated in line with present realities.
We must guide against giving the body wild powers in the new
policy as suggested in the amendments; Section 9(1)(b) says
the agency can enter into any premises, property, aircraft,
aerodrome or conveyance without warrant for the purpose of
conducting search or inspection in furtherance of its functions
under the Act. this is not appropriate considering they will
have to use armed policemen/security men for this action
and can easily be abused or used as political vendetta.
Also section 9(1)(G) expropriate property for use in
aeronautical search and rescue in any emergency situation
where necessary. We must consider convenience and
livelihood here some level of compensation should be
considered
Section 11(3) protects the removal of the Director General (DG)
by adding the clause senate confirmation as it is done during
nomination I am of the opinion that the independence that
we crave for start from the appointment of the DG,
therefore a competitive and transparent process should be
adopted rather than the present method whereby the
Minister nominates and send to the president and senate
thereafter for clearance.
Section 23(2) – The 5% of airfare, contract, charter and cargo
sales charge shall be chargeable on the total amount,
excluding statutory fees and taxes. This is commendable as
airlines and other organisations have used and still use
different surcharges which increases fare without
commensurate payment to the agency and allied
dependents
Section 23(3) The Authority may delegate the power to collect
the 5% of airfare, contract, charter and cargo sales charges to
airlines and such funds collected shall be remitted to the
Authority. If and when ever this option become inevitable,
we should avoid a reoccurrence of what happened at
Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) when this
option was adopted, it became an embarrassing mess
between both parties that the unions were used to
forcefully eject the other party. The percentage to be paid
and scope for this service should be stated clearly ab initio
which should not be more than 2%.
Section 23(6) All Air Operating Certificate(AOC) holders who
manage aircraft other than that of the operator, which aircraft
is included in the operations specifications of the operator, shall
pay a 5% management fee arising from such contracts. This
is double taxation since AOC holders will be remitting the
passengers taxes and other operational statutory
payments on the aircraft to the body.
Section 23(10) – An air operator which fails to remit to the
Authority, within the time specified in the regulations the 5%
charge, commits an offence and its directors are each liable on
conviction to a fine of N5,000,000 or imprisonment for a period
of two years or both. This is draconian suspending the AOC
will be appropriate after going through the due process of
notification.
Moving forward it is not enough to just review the civil aviation
act without putting in place structures that will make it effective
and enduring, NCAA’s powers are eroded, diluted and
influenced by the overbearing nature of successive ministers
appointed to head the ministry of aviation. We do not need an
independent ministry of aviation neither do we need the
overbearing influence. Aviation was part of the ministry of
transport why this government reversed it in 2019 and
increased cost of governance remains a mystery, yet they want
to implement Orosanye’s report in the 90th minute.
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