Posed by Sade Williams
Stakeholders in the aviation industry have applauded the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for being able to sustain the agency in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic
Speaking on the efforts by NAMA and how the agency was able to scale through the trying period, President of Nigerian Association of Aeronautical Engineers (NAAE), Ishaya Dung, said that the managing Director of NAMA, Capt Fola Akinkuotu has shown resilience considering the challenges he inherited as well as those introduced by the pandemic.
Dung pointed out that Akinkuotu’s style of administration to a reasonable extent, is all inclusive and that is why he has been able to record tangible achievements.
According to Dung, prior to the pandemic he systematically tried to cut down leakages resulting from frivolous DTAs, improved training (both local and foreign), improved monthly allocation to NAMA outstations, improved on equipment performance and achieved a better welfare package through the harmonization of staff salaries.
Dung informed that the NAMA boss was at the verge of bringing home the new staff Conditions of Service and the NHIS when the pandemic struck.
Even now at the post Covid-19 lockdown era, with the resumption of commercial flights and the significant improvement in revenue generation, Akinkuotu has equally assured that he will fulfill all obligations to staff within the shortest possible time. He has demonstrated this with the payment of productivity allowance.
“From the forgoing the agency can be said to be living up to expectations in terms of airspace management especially with new installations that have improved navigation during low visibility periods and also enhanced communications in the airspace with more redundancies among others”, Dung said.
Also commending NAMA is the former Secretary General of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Comrade Olayinka Abioye who attested that, in terms of covid-19 recovery strategy, NAMA was buoyantly addressing infrastructural deficits and staff welfare issues to the admiration of stakeholders.
Unfortunately, Comrade Abioye lamented the devastating effects of the pandemic vis-à-vis the closure of the Nigerian airports and partial closure of the Airspace which dealt a big blow to operations and the financial fortunes of NAMA and all other agencies/bodies.
According to the former labour scribe, the situation became so bad that the revenue nose dived so much that a once “action packed” agency became one that delays payments of salaries and pensions, and had to source for funds in order to perform such obligations to its workforce.
He said that, aside payments of staff salaries and pensions which NAMA managed to squeeze out monthly, some other aspects of the agency’s critical areas were tactically addressed in order to keep the system running, bearing in mind that throughout the critical period of the pandemic, some sizeable numbers of staff were attending to duties in all NAMA facilities across the country.
Even at that, Abioye recalled that certain benefits had to suffer suspension and there were outright delay and cancellation.
Explaining further, Abioye said “At that particular period, overseas trainings and other sundry engagements were put on hold, deductions could not be defrayed arising from shortage of funds. However, thanks to the leadership skills and prudent management of available resources, NAMA seemed to have successfully overcome the earlier difficulties, more so with the gradual return to the skies, of airlines especially the foreign ones which seems to be the cash cow of the industry”.
Still during the pandemic, NAMA is moving forward, putting in place Motorized Towers which are currently being put up for Factory Assessment Tests and training of its operatives. This is in addition to the ongoing Calibrations across the country.
According to Abioye, Captain Akinkuotu shows profound empathy towards all members of staff and retirees especially given the failures/negligence of past administration, adding that “his administration has been able to show that leaders must respect the dignity of labour of its employees, as welfare matters enjoyed top priority unlike in the past, training and retraining which are routine ingredients for optimum productivity and professionalism is been given desired attention and push. Even though things may seemed slow in coming, definitely, NAMA under Akinkuotu is far better and well positioned to meet the challenges of the 21st century world aviation nay air navigation service provision”.
He advised that, more efforts should be put into the policies in place so that in the next two years, it shall be songs of praise for all employees and management of NAMA.
While it is not yet Uhuru, Abioye pointed out that one can expect that, when the skies are cleared as safe and secure for full blown air transportation, much more improvements are envisage
