Nigeria warned against 2005,2006 repeating itself
Grp.Capt.John Ojikutu(rtd)
If care is not taken,Nigeria maybe heading back to the dark days of 2005 and 2006 when aircraft were dropping from the sky.
The warning came from the former Military Commandant of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos Group Captain John Ojikutu while speaking with some journalists at sideline of the just concluded Business Breakfast Meeting held by Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI) in Lagos.
Should things go wrong, the blame will be put at the door steps of the people in government and those in the management of the agencies.
He said we should be able to look at the faces of aviation managers and tell them that they are not doing the right thing.
“Except we are able to face them face the minister tell him you are doing the wrong thing face the head of the agencies that you are not fallen into ICAO line.”
According to Ojikutu,even if the politicians are interfering with the job of the core professional, they have the option to leave.
“The people in charge of the ministry are those politicians who know very little about what is happening.”
“ If we are not careful the way we are going now ,we are going back to 2005 and 2006 when aircraft were dropping from the sky.lots of things are happening and when you listen to the interpretation you get worried. We need to be very careful and be very sincere with ourselves ”
“There are people who had been in the system and I ask them why are you people there and you are refusing to talk and that is the danger. “
“The question now is how many people in the system have we trained the way they were being trained like before.Nigeria College of Aviation Technology is virtually gone. “
On the issue of reciprocity to foreign airlines operating into Nigeria,Ojikutu stated that Nigeria Airways should have been the one reciprocating but we kill the Airline.
The former Airport Commandant believed that incursion of foreign airlines into the country is a threat to the domestic airlines if not halted.
According to him,Nigeria must designate our airlines as flag carriers so long they meet the requirements.With the government standing behind them,the foreign countries our airlines are designated will treat them like ambassadors and accord them the respect.
The bane of aviation development in Nigeria has been the absence of professional aviators manning the ministerial position. The country is blessed with the best aviators who have managed international positions globally, instead of giving them the ministerial portfolio, the politicians that know nothing about aviation technology are being forced into the industry which is a miss match for the industry development. I’m still wondering how a barrister would be the best person for aviation management in the twentieth century.