Posted by Sade Williams
The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Musa Nuhu, has said that the response from the management of Azman Air Services in the course of the audit of the airline, has been very impressive, saying Nigerians would soon see a different airline emerge after the audit.
The airline’s operations was grounded last months after the NCAA said it was not satisfied with the rate of incidents it recorded successively in one month.
Responding to some questions on industry issues yesterday, while receiving executive members of the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents in his office in Lagos, Capt. Nuhu said the grounding of the operations of the airline was not a punitive measure but to guide it to operate successfully and in compliance to international standards.
According to him, the airline has so far, demonstrated understanding with the ongoing audit, adding that it has shown an impressive response to all issues raised, all the way.
“Well, as a regulatory body, we take the issue of safety utmost. That is our number one priority including safe operation of our airlines, or any operator. However, before we take action, we must have concrete evidence. We must have a trend. We see what is happening and we do a risk based analysis and we decide to take action. This is because grounding an airline has serious repercussions. Both on the availability of service to the public and also to the finances and reputation of the airline. I don’t think we were slow.
“When we reached a point that we were not happy, we called a Zoom meeting. I could have taken the decision on my own, but I am a human being and I know I have my shortcomings. So, I called my entire team. We had a Zoom meeting for about 4 to 5 hours before we came to that decision to suspend their operations. I want to say here clearly that it is not a punitive measure. It is our responsibility and duty to guide and work with the operators and assist them to ensure that they are in compliance with our regulations.
“As I am talking to you, our team met with Azman team and we had a very good discussion. We told them what the issues were. We have written them before that and they responded. And we said we need to sit down with them. We had a virtual meeting. We had a very good discussion and they went through each of the issues one by one. I must tell you the response we had from Azman has been very encouraging and very positive. They are taking all what we have explained to them. Now they understand it is even better for them to improve their business model. I have seen a shift and I can guarantee you that by the time Azman complies with all what we want, the public will see a different Azman airline, that is our purpose” , he said.
Nuhu said the NCAA’s actions on airlines are not meant to ‘kill’ their businesses, adding that the Azman Air incident has also revealled a lot about the regulatory body on what it needs to do to make it a more efficient organisation.
“We are not here to kill anybody or to ruin any airline, but to guide them to operate safely, efficiently and to provide the necessary services to the travelling public. I just received a very impressive response from them concerning what they have done. We are going to start serious training for their people next week.
“Where we find gaps, they have already started employing people and they are really working and cooperating. Honestly, I am very happy and feel very relieved at their response to us.
” I can guarantee you that our actions have nothing to do with Azman Air. In fact, the reference they made in their press release was referring to me as a person. Even, before I became the DG, I have nothing to do with the organisation. It is true these people come through the NCAA. We have what we call the management staff, some people give them the clue that key post holders have to meet certain requirements. I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t there when they were approved. I came and met them, but I think it is my responsibility as the DG, when I see there is a mistake, an error or something wrong, I have to rectify it, which is exactly what we are working at, trying to rectify whatever might have been done wrong in the past.
“Also, NCAA is an organisation too, in transition. We are trying to change the organisation to put it at a higher level. Honestly, this Azman incident told us a lot about ourselves, areas that we might have found some deficiencies and we are trying to fill it and make some changes to really make the organisation much more effective and efficient. We have had issues with some airlines, they came and we sat down them. We discussed with them and we resolved it.
” Unfortunately, in this particular case when somebody go to the public and impunes the credibility of an organisation. We need to defend our action as an organisation. What I want you to understand is that it is not we as a person and not even the DG, it’s not NCAA, but Nigeria’s reputation that is being damaged in the international space. If NCAA is somehow perceived as a corrupt organisation, believe me that all the operators and aviation businesses in Nigeria will have it difficult going to charter or lease aircraft. It makes the whole business much more difficult for us. It damages the industry. That is why we had to come out and explain to the world what happened.
“We don’t have any airline accident in the last 5 years and God forbid there will not be any during my tenure. Not only the accident, the number of incidents too that people will not hear about. We want to bring it out to make the system much safer. When you have these incidents, you use your equipment much more, instead of grounding the airlines because they have incidents, they do more flights and system becomes more efficient, effective to the benefits of the travelling public”, added.
On the current state of the audit, Nuhu cautioned people to beware of information on social media, adding that the audit is going on well.
“Be careful with social media. I have seen pictures in social media that somebody said it is in Nigeria. I looked at the picture and I looked at the site and it is not even in Nigeria. So, let’s be careful what we read in social media. Yes, some might be true, but I can tell you the issue of Azman Air is going on well. We are working towards resolving it and hopefully soon. We are not going to release to anybody until we are satisfied” , he said.
