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Another Aviation Milestone, as NAMA Sets To Deploy Surface Movement Radar, Ground Control System

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Just a little over a week for the Buhari administration to hand over to a new administration, the aviation sector under Senator Hadi Sirika has recorded yet another milestone as the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has successfully conducted the site acceptance test for its newly installed surface movement radar and ground control systems in Abuja and Lagos airports to enable air traffic controllers to monitor aircraft and vehicular movement during low visibility or night time.

Speaking on the significance of the project
the Acting Managing Director of NAMA, Matthew Lawrence Pwajok stated that it was meant to enhance the safety and efficiency of flight operations in Nigeria.

The agency, according to him, had embarked on the procurement of the surface movement radar due to its capability for detection, monitoring, and control of aircraft and vehicles on the ground for the purpose of preventing collision between aircraft, and between aircraft and vehicles as well as between aircraft and obstacles on the ground (runway, taxiway, and apron).

Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika

Pwajok said “the surface movement radar which is a primary radar would provide surveillance for aircraft and vehicles on the ground for the air traffic controller rather than physically seeing or looking out on the runway, the apron, taxiway or parking gate. Presently, what obtains is that the ground control is manually done. Air traffic controllers at the tower look outside to see where the aircraft is, to separate it, clear it for takeoff, and landing, and direct it to taxi to the parking gate. But with surface movement radar, guidance on the ground is automated as every surface movement is displayed clearly on the console. So, the air traffic controller can clearly see the aircraft and guide it while taxiing on the ground from the departure gate to the runway for takeoff, and once it takes off, he hands it over to the approach control.

“The surface movement radar can be used when aircraft land in poor weather conditions. In most cases the airport is shut down because pilots can’t see and can’t taxi so they would have to wait until there is weather improvement. But with the surface movement radar we can guide aircraft on landing, to the parking gate and, on departure, we can guide them from the parking gate to the runway for takeoff as everything is displayed on the console. The same way the radar sees aircraft in the air, this one will see aircraft and vehicles as they are moving on the ground,” he said.

M. L. Pwajok, Acting Managing Director, NAMA

Speaking further, the NAMA MD said the surface movement radar would greatly enhance safety as it would help prevent runway incursions, excursions, and confusion.

“Sometimes an aircraft is given an instruction to a particular taxi link and it enters the wrong link. If visibility is very poor or the place is dark, the air traffic controller will not know. Surface movement radar would therefore enable the controller to see clearly that the aircraft is in the right link. It would enhance safety on the ground by preventing collisions between aircraft. The issue of delaying aircraft by waiting for the weather to improve will be a thing of the past,” he said.

The Surface movement radar, Pwajok further explained, would boost Category III Instrument Landing Systems operations because “with CAT III, aircraft can land at zero visibility while the surface movement radar would then enable the controllers even at zero visibility to separate and control aircraft to the gate as well as those taxiing from the gate to takeoff very efficiently. Surface movement radar can also detect conflicts. If two aircraft are going to converge at a point, it can give an alert to the controller to prevent a collision on the ground.”

He recalled that a similar site acceptance test was conducted successfully in Lagos on the equipment located at Runway 18 Right two weeks ago and that “every aspect of the equipment is working effectively. So, what we are doing now is landscaping and fencing the antennas to prevent future encroachment’.

“In Lagos, we had a major challenge of the tower being blocked by the Legend Hotel, Executive Jet, and aviation terminal. And that necessitated the deployment of the surface movement radar. So, with this, that problem has been solved. It has reduced stress on the air traffic controller as he can now see everything from the console. In Abuja, the Chinese terminal also blocked the tower and controllers can neither see the international terminal nor the presidential wing. At the moment we are using the mobile tower to augment the view. But with surface movement radar, we won’t need the mobile tower there anymore as every part of the airport is visible from the console,” he said.

He gave kudos to the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika for providing the needed leadership support for the timely and successful execution of the project and numerous others in the sector, hoping that the minister will be able to commission the project within the short time left.

Meanwhile, Pwajok has said the agency was working with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the airlines to ensure that all vehicles coming to the airside carry a transponder to enable the surface movement radar to identify them and the controller to communicate and control them. On the training of personnel for the equipment, the NAMA boss said engineers had already been trained since last year while arrangements have been concluded for 12 air traffic controllers to proceed for training in a matter of days.

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Flight Diversion: NCAA Investigates United Nigeria Airlines ✈️

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By Elizabeth Okwe

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding United Nigeria flight NUA 0506 to Asaba and the confusion it has created in the public domain.

This is according to a statement signed by the Director General of NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu.

The statement however affirmed that preliminary steps have been taken pending conclusions of ongoing investigation.

“The Authority wishes to reassure the traveling public that it will leave no stone unturned as it has always done in the past to ensure continued safety of the aviation industry” it concluded.

But in its defence few hours after the incident, United Nigeria Airlines claimed the flight was diverted to Asaba as a result of bad weather.

Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, the airline spokesperson, said the pilot was properly briefed about the diversion, noting that the cabin crew made “wrong announcement upon landing safely in Asaba [and] created confusion among the passengers.”

Capt. Musa Nuhu DG, CAA

However, unconfirmed reports indicate that the regulatory agency may have suspended the operations of wetleased aircraft in the stable of United Nigeria Airlines pending the conclusion of the investigations.

According to the sources, the Civil Aviation Authority is not satisfied with the explanations of the airline and is determined to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the flight misdirection.

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Aviation

Omni-Blu AOC: Olateru Duely Resigned as Director of Airline, NCAA DG Affirms

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Contrary to recent reports regarding the involvement of the Director-General of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Engr Akin Olateru in the management of Omni-Blu Aviation, a jet and helicopter charter company, it has been revealed that the NSIB Director-General actually resigned his position as a Director in the company before taking up appointment with the company.

Director general, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu who has put the controversy to rest, has also revealed that the documents provided by the management of Omni-Blu aviation show that the Director General of Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Engr. Akin Olateru, duly resigned from the company before taking up appointment with government.

Capt. Musa Nuhu DG, NCAA

The NCAA DG spoke yesterday at the launch of a book ‘Handbook on Public Relation Practice and Aviation Reporting’, written by Sam Adurogboye, former public relations manager of NCAA.

He said the NCAA only asked somes questions in the course of the processing of the AOC which some quarters have conined to be suspension.

“It is unfortunate that it is coined that NCAA has suspended the AOC processes of Omni-Blu Aviation. One of the directors of Omni-Blu who is DG NSIB, Engr. Akin Olateru, a very close colleague and a friend of mine is a shareholder in Ombi-Blu and this was something he had before he came to the public service. Just because you came to public service does not mean you should wipe off your previous years.

Engr Akin Olateru
Director-General /CEO, NSIB

“There was just a question from NCAA that it appears there was a conflict between this application and the Act of NSIB and NCAA. So, they were asked to respond and they responded. He has provided all the documents, he has shown proof he has resigned and he has declared his interest in those organisations. So, he has provided the appropriate documentation to show that there is no conflict of interest.

“We cannot wipe out our previous lives just because we got to work for government, but there are conditions. In an industry that you are a CEO or a staff, you cannot have an interest, but there are procedures and he has given proof for those procedures; he has showed us that he actually resigned and that letter is actually confirmed by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). He showed that he has done all the necessary declarations to show that he has resigned.

“The only thing is that he has given the necessary documents required, but we have to take it through the normal procedures, legal process so that when documentation is done that he has been cleared, somebody tomorrow will not go and challenge it. It is important to go through the process of clearing him so that the records are put there. Anybody that comes in the future, can look at the file, see that the issue was raised, but the appropriate information had been provided and individual is cleared”, he said.

Nuhu said the process would be completed during the new week.

“However, in this new week. It would have been done, but our legal adviser travelled out with me. So, we will work on it and the process will continue.”, he added.

He said the conflict of interest aspect has also be resolved.

It was reported last week that the NCAA had suspended the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) processes for Omn-Blu Aviation (OBA), which would enable it to operate as a scheduled operator.

Ombi-Blu currently operates as a chartered helicopter and jet company.

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Soludo Renames Anambra Airport After Literary Icon, Chinua Achebe

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By Elizabeth Okwe and Ojone Grace Odaudu

Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo has renamed the Anambra International and Cargo Airport, Umueri, to Chinua Achebe International Passenger and Cargo Airport.

In his speech at the 63rd Nigerian Independence Anniversary which took place at Dr Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, on October 1, Soludo informed the applauding large audience that the airport was named after Achebe after wide consultations because Chinua Achebe is an African and global hero.

Soludo recalled that in his lifetime, Achebe declined to accept two high Nigerian national honours in protest against what he perceived as injustice to his home state that had tacit support from high officialdom.
For Soludo, it’s now incumbent on Achebe’s home state of Anambra to honour Anambra’s greatest gift to the literary world. Mr Governor stated that his administration will work in tandem with the Federal Government to offer an international airport worthy of the Achebe legacy.

Chinua Achebe is globally acclaimed as Africa’s most influential writer. His classic novel, Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, ranks amongst the greatest novels ever written in the world.

Achebe was the founder of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in 1981 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where Soludo was then a young student.

It needs to be stressed that Achebe was not just a writer. He was at once also a critic, activist, organiser, publisher, politician, and an uncommon leader who served as the President-General (PG) of his native town union in Ogidi, Anambra State. As a national political leader, Achebe was the Vice-Chairman of Aminu Kano’s Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) of the Second Republic.

A man of unshakable principle, Achebe wrote the following words when he rejected the award of the high national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in October, 2004: “I write this letter with a very heavy heart. For some time now, I have watched events in Nigeria with alarm and dismay. I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connection in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the Presidency.” Achebe also rejected the award when it was re-offered in 2011.

If he were to be alive today, and seeing the dire circumstances of the country, Achebe would have made his word count as he did in his 1983 epochal book ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’ that began with these famous damning words: “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”

Chinua Achebe’s oeuvre is indeed intimidating starting from the legendary Things Fall Apart in 1958 and grandly lapping all the way through No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, A Man of the People, Anthills of the Savannah, Girls at War and Other Stories, Beware Soul Brother, Morning Yet on Creation Day, The Trouble with Nigeria, Chike and the River, Home and Exile, Hopes and Impediments, The Education of a British-Protected Child, There Was A Country etc.

When Chinua Achebe died at exactly 11:51pm (US time), that is 4.51am (Nigerian time), on Thursday, March 21 at the Harvard University Teaching Hospital, Massachusetts, USA, aged 82, it was one death that shook the entire world as tributes came pouring in from all the continents of the world, from presidents down to paupers.

The great Kenyan novelist, Ngugi wa Thiongo, who Achebe mentored paid him this tribute: “Achebe bestrides generations and geographies. Every country in Africa claims him as their own.”

The then American President Barack Obama extolled Achebe thusly: “A revolutionary author, educator, and cultural ambassador, Chinua shattered the conventions of literature and shaped the collective identity of Nigerians throughout the world. With a dream of taking on misperceptions of his homeland, he gave voice to perspectives that cultivated understanding and drew our world closer together. His legacy will endure in the hearts of all whose lives he touched with the everlasting power of his art.”

Soludo has delivered a universal masterstroke by renaming the airport to Chinua Achebe International Passenger and Cargo Airport, Umueri. Global tourists will in due course flood in because of the Achebe appeal in the same manner that Bard College, New York, USA built the Achebe House in the University.

Governor Soludo’s drive to turn Anambra State into a liveable and prosperous homeland that will be a destination point instead of a departure lounge has received the ultimate uplift with the naming of the Achebe International Airport.

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