The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FAAN

  • We’ll ensure improved services across MDAs-SERVICOM

    Service Compact (SERVICOM) says it will not relent in ensuring adequate service principles and core values aimed at improving service delivery in the country’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s).

    Mrs Nnenna Akajemeli, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SERVICOM, made the assertion a keynote address presented at the 5th Stakeholders Forum of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Monday in Port Harcourt.

    Akajemeli, represented by Mrs Stella Benson, a SERVICOM officer, assured Nigerians of SERVICOM’s readiness to pursue values aimed at ensuring world class services across Nigerian MDAs, including the airports.

    She therefore, charged airport staff, especially the Customer Service Department across Nigerian airports to rise up to the challenge of repositioning services inline with world class standard.

    “As foot soldiers of service delivery in your departments, you should therefore, not relent in adopting and implementing service standards, principles and core values that will drive service delivery processes,” she said.

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    Commending the current leadership of the Customer Service Department of FAAN led by Mrs Ebele Okoye, Akajemeli said Okoye’s leadership initiatives had led to a more rewarding staff/customer relationship and improved services.

    In the same vain, Mr Saleh Dunoma, Managing Director, FAAN, represented by the South-South/South-East Regional Manager, Mr Afolabi Ojo, thanked SERVICOM for their initiative and promised to sustain achievements of the customer Service Department.

    He said that the stakeholders forum has created an opportunity for FAAN to evaluate, analyze and improve on services to air travelers as well as other airport users.

    On her part, Okoye, thanked the participants, adding that the forum had availed FAAN the opportunity to know their challenges in terms of service delivery and had helped the it proffer ways for improvements.

    “The aim of this forum is actually to get relevant stakeholders together to chart the way forward and to achieve better service delivery system and the bottom line is that we now have improved services,” she said.

    Okoye promised that the initiative would be sustained as they were poised to ensure world class services across our airports.

  • Abuja Airport runway reopens after hours of closure – FAAN

    The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN ), has announced the reopening of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, following an incident involving a Gulfstream four aircraft being operated by Skybird on Wednesday night.

    A statement by Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, on Thursday disclosed that the aircraft overshot the Runway while landing and consequently got stuck on the Runway End Safety Area (RESA).

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    Yakubu said that FAAN had reopened the Runway to take arrivals and departures, subject to a reduced threshold of 3000 metres.

    She assured airlines and passengers that the airport was safe for normal operations, adding that FAAN was committed to her core values of safety, security and comfort.

    “This is following the partial closure of Runway 22, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at about 2200hours, on Wednesday night.

    The closure was due to an incident involving a Gulfstream four aircraft being operated by Skybird that overshot the Runway while landing and consequently got stuck on the Runway End Safety Area (RESA),” she said.

  • Union urges FAAN on new conditions of service

    THE Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) has called on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to put in place machinery for the  approval for the conditions of service (CoS) for workers.

    Rising from its National Executive Council Meeting (NEC) held in Abuja, ATSSSAN in a communiqué said it was necessary for the management of the agencies to activate the machinery that would lead to new CoS for its members.

    The communiqué, jointly signed by comrades Ahmadu Ilitrus and Franecs Akinjole, President and Deputy General Secretary, said the union was awaiting the approval at the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the National Salaries, Wages and Incomes Commission.

    It added: “The NEC-in-Session also charged the various management to put in place necessary machinery to ensure the conclusion of all pending staff promotion for 2017/2018.

    “In a similar vein, effective collaboration with managements of various private organisations in the aviation industry must be sustained to ensure speedy review of staff conditions of service that are due for review.”

    ATSSSAN frowned at the management of the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) for its refusal to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) like its counterpart, the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Plc, almost 10 years after acquisition.

    The communiqué observed that this act had denied the staff the opportunity of holding the statutory 10 per cent equity shareholding in the company as agreed with the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) at acquisition.

    ATSSSAN, however, appealed to BPE to compel the management of SAHCOL to go to the stock exchange market without delay.

    ATSSSAN, however, commended the management of some affiliate companies in the sector for embracing dialogue in the management of issues thereby enabling their amicable resolution and creating a conducive atmosphere at the work place.

    It, however, called on others to emulate those managements and adopt modern dispute management approaches, declaring that there could not be a better corridor for resolving critical issues than dialogue and mutual engagement.

  • Security beefed up as British Prime Minister, May, visits Lagos

    Security has been beefed up at the Murtala Muhammed Airports, Ikeja, ahead of the British Prime Minister, Mrs Theresa May’s visit to Lagos on Wednesday.

    Security agencies including the Police, the Nigeria Civil Defence and Security Corps and the Nigerian Army are at strategic locations within the precincts of the airport.

    Also deployed are officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency to ensure smooth human and vehicular movement.

    An official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) told our reporter that the facility has been secured with the deployment of the security personnel for May’s arrival.

    Read Also: UK ‘ll use aid budget to boost trade in Africa, says May

    NAN reports that Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State is expected to receive the Prime Minister and her entourage later today at
    the airport.

    May is on a trade mission in an attempt to bolster Britain’s post-Brexit fortunes. This is her first visit to Africa since she became Prime
    Minister in 2016.

    She will be accompanied by a 30-man business delegation as part of her efforts to “deepen and strengthen” partnerships around the world
    as the UK prepares to leave the European Union (EU) next year.

    Former Prime Minister David Cameron had in 2013 visited Africa for Nelson Mandela’s memorial service.

  • FAAN to acquire scanners to boost security

    To boost security at airports nationwide, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has ordered for modern scanners, its General Manager, Customer Services, Mrs Ebele Okoye, has said.

    She disclosed this at the Second Quarter stakeholders’ forum held at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

    Okoye said the scanners could  detect hard drugs, ammunition and food as well as harmful liquids.

    She said: “Arrangements have been made to bring these scanners to Nigeria. They are different from what we have because they can detect anything inside a baggage without manual checks.

    “Our goal is to reduce interface between passengers and officials of agencies at the airport to curb corrupt practices and also improve service delivery at our airports.”

    According to her, the forum is one of the obligations of FAAN as outlined in the reviewed FAAN Service Charter and it is aimed at improving relationship between FAAN and the stakeholders.

    FAAN Managing Director, Mr Saleh Dunoma, represented by FAAN’s Director of Operations, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, said the cordial relationship between FAAN and the stakeholders must be sustained for efficient and effective service delivery.

    “I enjoin us to join hands together to uplift our airports so that we can achieve our mission statement of being among the best airport groups in the world.

    “This forum is to ensure that the cordial relationship that existed is strengthened to achieve excellence at all times.

    “This is an important road map for us in the industry to ensure service improvement as feedback mechanism,” he said.

    MMIA General Manager Mrs Victoria Shin-Aba, said FAAN was  seeking ways to improve customer service, especially with the  recent inauguration of a feedback application  at the airport.

    Mrs Shin-Aba noted that the app, an initiative of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), would give passengers and the public the opportunity to register their complaints or commend the quality of services being rendered by government agencies at the airports.

    “The application also gives assurance that such complaints will be attended to and resolved within 72hours, in line with the provisions of Executive Order 1 of the Federal Government of Nigeria,” she said.

    Meanwhile, the  N3 billion contractual agreements that stalled the installation of very important airfield lighting at 1/8 Left runway of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, would be resolved, according to Dunoma.

    The Lagos airport has two runways. The 1/8 Right runway is dedicated to international airline operations because of the length and width of the facility while the 1/8 Left runway is one used by domestic carriers.

    Dunoma, represented by Director of Airport Operations, Capt. Rabiu Hamisu Yadudu, disclosed that the project was stalled eight years ago; a situation that embarrassed the government and made life difficult for domestic airlines.

    He said the Federal Government has revisited the project, adding that the facility would be completed in the next few months.

    He announced that the central taxi-way of the airport runway, which was closed 10 years ago, would be re-opened in three months.

    Dunoma, who did not disclose the contractual agreement that led to the abandoning of the project eight years ago, said: “Small contractual issues delayed the project. This facility is very important for airlines and we are doing everything possible to make sure it is fixed to save airlines from wastage of fuel.”

    The central taxi-way closure has led to difficulty for domestic airlines. A taxi-way is a ground path used by aircraft that connects a runway with another area of an airport.

    Taxiways are usually made of concrete or asphalt, and much like runway surfaces, are pretty solid – anything from a foot to five feet in thickness.

    The 18-Left runway had remained without light for over a decade, forcing domestic airlines to bring stop their operations by 7pm because of lack of light on the runway. They, however, taxi to a far distant 18-Right runway for landing and take-off.

  • US deports 34 Nigerians

    No fewer than 34 Nigerians were on Wednesday deported from the United States of America for allegedly committing offences in the country.

    The deportees arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMlA), Lagos at about 2.30 p.m.

    The deportees, comprising 32 males and two females, were brought back in a chartered Omni Air International aircraft with Registration Number W342AX.

    Spokesman of the Lagos Airport Police Command, DSP Joseph Alabi, confirmed the development to our reporter.

    Alabi said, “at about 14.30 hours (2.30 p.m.), we received 34 Nigerians who were brought back from the United States. They were made up of 32 males and two females. ”

    He said the 25 of the deportees were alleged to have committed criminal offences, with one involved in narcotics while others were alleged to have committed immigration-related offences.

    Read Also: 20 Kenyans, others deported from United States

    Alabi said the deportees were received by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police.

    Also on ground to receive them were officials of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    He said that the deportees were profiled by the relevant authorities and allowed to depart to their various destinations.

  • FAAN is fencing Ilorin airport

    The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is fencing Ilorin International Airport to curb cattle incursion into the runway.

    Airport Manager Ibrahim AbdulAzeez, who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday, said the measure would prevent further incursion of unauthorised persons and animals into the airport premises.

    A stakeholders’ meeting to curb cattle incursion, encroachment and illegal mining around the airport was held recently.

    The iron fencing, which began from the main entrance gate, is a substitute to the old fence, AbdulAzeez said.

    According to him, the airport management will set up a committee to end illegal activities at the airport.

  • FAAN pensioners to Sirika: fulfill your promises

    THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) branch of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners  (NUP)  has urged Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to fulfil the promises he made over two years ago to turn around the sector.

    The pensioners noted that Sirika, a pilot, was yet to fulfil his promise to effectively concession airports and facilitate the payment of severance benefits to former workers of the Nigeria Airways Limited.

    FAAN NUP Chairman Comrade Rasaki Ope and the Secretary, Comrade Emeka Njoku, asked Sirika  for his achievements since he assumed office.

    The group alleged that rather than take steps to impact positively on the industry’s development, Sirika “influenced the recruitment of his cronies as general managers and directors into aviation agencies.

    “The flooding of his cronies into aviation agencies,’’ they alleged, ‘’is a stumbling block to the promotion of deserving career officers to their next level.’’

    The pensioners said they were more disappointed in Sirika, whom they reasoned, understood the challenges of the sector and should have taken urgent steps to fix the critical problems.

    Passing a no-confidence vote on him, the pensioners said Sirika failed to deliver the national carrier which timeline he had set for March.

    They said: ‘’It may not be out of place to say that Sirika has performed lowest as minister appointed to oversee aviation.

    “He promised last year that a national carrier will start operations by March 2018, and this is May 2018, and there is nothing on ground suggesting the project is realisable.”

    ‘’They also took a swipe at Sirika’s failure to ensure the outstanding payment of retirees of defunct Nigeria Airways approved last year are paid before the last Easter.

    “Easter had come and gone and nothing had happened. Sirika raised the hope that aviation security officers of FAAN would be carrying arms to enhance their job at the airports. Till now, there is no plan or training for the security personnel to achieve this.

    “What about the perimeter fence construction or reconstruction at major airports, which the minister has been singing about in the past two years? Nothing has happened.”

    They said with these unfulfilled promises, it would be difficult to take seriously the minister’s continued propagation of concession of four major airports, when 80 per cent of their revenue points have been given to private firms to handle.

    The pensioners asked: ”Does this minister have a hidden agenda not known to President Muhammadu Buhari and other members of the Federal Executive Council?

    They continued: “When he was appointed and was busy making mouth-watering promises, we thought he will perform, but today we are disappointed that he has exhibited emptiness despite that he is a pilot.

    “When this minister came in, he met an Aviation Road Map with clear-cut futuristic plan for the industry, but no sooner than Sirika came, he systematically jettisoned  the road map for his self-centered agenda.”

    The union leaders noted that as a member of the technical aspect of the industry and as a pilot, they thought he would have created an enabling environment to create employment opportunities for unemployed pilots, adding: “To us he is a failure in all ramifications“.

    But an official of the Ministry of Aviation, who pleaded not to be named, said Sirika would not be distracted by the comments.

    He said the minister remained committed to his vision to drive the  sector’s development by strengthening the procedures and processes for the implementation of government policies and programmes.

  • FAAN embraces digital payment system

    THE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria  (FAAN) is to embark on cashless transactions in the nation’s airports in order to foster ease of payment, create payment options and improve the speed and convenience of payment

    Its General Manager, Corporate Communications Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, told reporters in Lagos, that arrangements had been made for the smooth take off of the exercise.

    According to her, the cashless transactions will reduce the  burden of carrying cash as transactions would be made in different ways such as  Point of Sales (PoS)  terminals and money transfers. She added that Remita agents have also been positioned strategically at various points across the airports.

    She said the initiative was designed  under the Presidential Enabling Environment Business Council (PEBEC) to ensure convenience and curb corruption. Identified car parks, cargo section, chartered /unscheduled flights among others will be affected by the the new innovation.

    She said: “It will help FAAN to eliminate leakages and further increase revenue base of the organisation. No government official  will handle cash during transactions when the exercise takes off. We are soliciting the cooperation of all airport users, concessionaires and the general public to ensure a hitch free exercise.”

    She said the decision to adopt digital payment was as a result of the success of the Executive Order of the Federal Government in a bid to create enabling business environment in the country especially within the airports as entry points into the country.

    She said it was to ensure that those doing business at the airports were not harassed but furnished with accurate information on what and where to pay at every point in time.

     

    According to Mrs Yakubu, Visa on arrival which has commenced at the airport was part of the Ease of Doing Business adding that the digital payment was another feat to be achieved.

    She noted that in the end, it will be a win – win situation for both FAAN and customers adding that the agency has been repositioned to provide more improved services for customers.

    She disclosed that sensitisation of the general public through jingles was on going.

  • Celebrating FAAN’s  management competence 

    Although far from being an excuse which it sounds like, the aviation industry if the truth be told was not created yesterday. Like most government institutions which were over the years hardly updated in terms of infrastructure development and maintenance, staff training, policy revisions but were left to stagnate, FAAN is just experiencing a new lease of life in the years of the Engr. Saleh Dunoma’s administration. Perhaps 2017 may be considered the golden year of FAAN since the return to democracy in 1999. FAAN has taken a lot of very bold initiatives to reposition the organisation. Those moves are important in consolidating what has been the hallmark of the change era which began in 2015.

    Perhaps the most outstanding outcome for 2017 is the certification of both the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport both in Lagos and Abuja respectively by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority. The certification of the airports is a defining moment in a country where there is pervasive fear of almost everything that is Nigerian. That the airports were certified is a remarkable demonstration that there is some form of security to allay our fears about the capability of FAAN to provide security for those who patronise the airport.

    The certification came from a very reputable agency which is critical in investing a good degree of confidence in a component of the aviation sector. At a time when the change is hard to bear by this sector, a little good news is like a drop of cold water into a parched soul. Its importance bears repeating and being applauded. Nigerians must learn to move away from the sour grape attitude and find something good in our prosperity like that which happened between NCAA and FAAN in 2017. This article is a celebration of the feat of FAAN in 2017 as it overcame several obstacles especially the perception of many who view the organisation’s from the lenses of self interest.

    With certification come certain guarantees, obligations, commitments and pledges from the operators. The public can use these promises to hold FAAN to transparency and accountability in the provision of its services rather carry out campaigns of calumny necessitated by greed and avarice. The expectation after the certification is that FAAN must maintain facilities in accordance with the certificate in effect. FAAN is obligated to promptly advise the licensing authority and the flying community of any temporary deviation from the certificate. FAAN must also amend the AOM if permanent changes are made. It should also advise the licensing authority and the flying community through Aeronautical Information Services.

    The public should also understand that FAAN like many other agencies in Nigeria is a work in progress and would take some time to get where it should be among its contemporaries around the world. FAAN have over the years contended with political interruptions which have skewed several work plans and made implementations to suffer massive reversals and made professionalism impossible if not difficult to attain across government agencies.  The FAAN strategy for 2018 is to build on what was embarked upon with the dawn of change beginning in 2015 through 2017. FAAN is diligently pursuing all the packages it started since.

    There is a huge training and retraining component to this initiative to set FAAN on a solid footing. There is also the recruitment of staff to replace aging staff in the Authority. The strength of an organisation is the knowledge bank of that organisation and FAAN has demonstrated that it is pursuing the knowledge option in tackling the challenges of airport security and safety by training more than three hundred of its staff in diverse areas of airport management.

    On his election campaign the president swore that he will create jobs and provide both economic and legal frameworks that will make Nigeria livable for Nigerians under his government. Concessioning the airports will not create jobs; it will only make a few rich people richer and put the lives and means of livelihood of about six thousand Nigerian working there and not to count the pensioners and their families at risk. There are too many hungry and desperate people on the street already and to allow the greed of a few Nigerians to compound this misery is an option that should be avoided.

    We are all too aware of the recent concession attempt with Bi Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) which is shrouded in a mist both partners into a spate of litigations with outcomes that were hardly respected by the government that originally ink the deal, endorsed and approved the concession. The concession is riddled with so much controversy and seems to carry a mark of an under hand initiative. Rather than serve as a model for what concessioning should be the rising trend of disagreement between the government and BASL has become the reason to be distrustful of the concession campaign. Can this be the model to rely on in a country where transparency, public participation and accountability is totally disregarded?

    In a country where alliances and contracts are broken with impunity, concession is not the most reasonable option to financing Nigerian airports. The conflicts between successive governments are too intense for the airport authorities to be carried away by the demand for concession. A new government may feel not obliged to honour the concession contract signed by a previous administration and the outcome will be protracted litigation. Litigation over airport rights is an ill wind that fouls the atmosphere of airport management.

    The challenge for the airports is to look for creative financing to make them viable constituents of the aviation sector and they can be if marketing is professionally stepped up and clinically implemented. With a huge population Nigeria has the potential to benefit immensely from air traffic within the country, the continent and across the world. The election of Engr. Dunoma as the president of Airport Council International, Africa should be leveraged to include generating financial and investment goodwill for the nation’s airport. The nation should find a way to tap into the global conference of aviation financing  held in Abuja last year. The pivotal role Nigeria played at this international conference should be FAAN’s entry point into providing a veritable platform for fast tracking development in aviation in Nigeria.

    If FAAN can get more of the funding required for the expansion projects of the five international airports in Kano, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Abuja FAAN will be on the way to an appreciable level of viability as more passenger traffic can be handled with ease. FAAN is also taking the right step in with the acquisition of six generators with the capacity to generate 29.1 MW of electricity. But FAAN can also take a more aggressive solution for the energy crisis by taking on renewable energy to complement the source of electricity and provide relief for passengers who are subject to darkness when power interruption occurs. FAAN may not be where it wants to be but it is not where it used to be before 2017. FAAN is moving gradually towards restoring confidence to airport safety and it just around the corner. Cynics, critics and doubters will soon join the celebration flight of what FAAN will achieve in its 2018 strategy to improved services for air travelers.

     

    • Ayela, is veteran journalist, based in Lagos