The Aeronautical Division of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has expressed confidence in the capacity of the nation’s navigational infrastructure to guarantee safety of air travel in the country.
The division’s position is in a statement by Mr Khalid Emele, the General Manager, Public Relations, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) on Sunday in Lagos.
Emele stated that the group made the commendation after a recent tour of NAMA’s TRACON site, Air Traffic Control Tower.
He quoted the Chairman of Aeronautical Division of the NSE, Mr Patrick Achurufe, as saying “our findings have encouraged members on the safety of the Nigerian airspace.”
Achurufe also said that the team’s assessment of NAMA facilities revealed that a lot had been done both in terms of acquisition of critical infrastructure and training of appropriate personnel.
He said that the critical personnel of the agency had discharged their duties both in communicating with pilots, vectoring aircraft and surveillance of the airspace in general with dexterity.
Achurufe commended the Federal Government on the “massive investment” in the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) project and called for a sustained upgrade of the facility.
He added that “given that aviation is dynamic, most components of these facilities need to be upgraded from time to time in line with world best practices and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) specification.”
The Vice Chairman of the group, Mr Godwin Balang, called for uninterrupted power supply from the national grid to ensure that the facilities operated at optimum capacity.
He also urged government to ensure adequate supply of spare parts for effective maintenance of the systems.
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