Why we need more funds to secure airspace – NAMA MD

By Dickson Omobola

Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, Engr Farouk Umar, has said the agency is seeking increased funding because inadequate resources are limiting efforts to modernise Nigeria’s airspace infrastructure and strengthen aviation safety.

Umar also urged the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to support the agency’s funding demands, saying some of the navigational equipment in the country had been in use for more than two decades and needed to be replaced.

Addressing newsmen, Umar lamented that NAMA’s internally generated revenue, IGR, was insufficient to meet its operational needs, saying a large portion of its earnings was spent on workers’ salaries, claims and other financial obligations.

He said: “For the last three and a half years, if you could recall, I had a presentation that NAMA is no longer on trial; it is on course. I have my reason for saying so because we met a system that was decaying, and it needed an insider who understood the system to arrest the drift. The entire communication architecture of the Nigerian airspace, as we met it, was in a terrible shape.

“What we did was to make sure that we designed it in such a way that it would meet the needs of the present airspace demand. We also realised that most of the navigational equipment were obsolete and an average electronic system lifespan does not go beyond 10 years. These are instruments that have served for more than two decades, and we decided that we just have to replace them.

“But unfortunately, funding is not there. The internally generated revenue is nothing to write home about. As soon as you address the workers’ salaries, claims and some creditors, you won’t be able to do anything. Therefore, you have to rely on intervention, and we all know the current economic situation in the country.

“There is also the issue of surveillance systems. The surveillance system, as it were, is scary. It has outlived its original functionality. At the time it was installed, it was near obsolete. That was because it took us nine years to install it.

“We found out that the technology was already obsolete. But because of our commitment and professionalism, we were able to maintain the system while still working, though not at an optimal level.

“That is the reason we are saying that NAMA should be adequately funded. Unfortunately, the regulator is not seeing it from that angle. The truth of the matter is, it is the regulator that is supposed to initiate policies that will ensure that its work is reduced by funding the agency that they oversight so that we meet all the safety requirements.

“I do not blame the current leadership of the NCAA. It is just that it has failed to understand where we are headed. What we are saying is that its hands are tied because of the Act that was wrongly enacted. We want a review of that so that it will address the current realities as far as the Nigerian airspace is concerned. You can only provide regulatory oversight to an agency that is capable of meeting all the safety requirements prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, and the Civil Aviation Regulations.

“I think that we have tried using the available means to sustain the Nigerian airspace. However, there is a great room for improvement. Technology is dynamic, it waits for no one. If you don’t act on time, you will end up being cut off from the rest of the world. To a large extent, what is really disturbing us and making us worry is lack of adequate funding for the airspace.”

The post Why we need more funds to secure airspace – NAMA MD appeared first on Vanguard News.