Keyamo & the Aviation ministry, the shake, shakes and spills

Pictures, they say, do not lie. During the exchange of baton between the immediate past Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mr Kabir Yusuf Mohammed and his successor, Mrs Olubunmi Oluwaseun Kuku, at the Lagos operational headquarters of the agency, the mood was infectious.

Some of the staff of the agency wept openly, some folded their arms across their chest and a few others supported their chin with one hand. Many were moody. But some others beamed with smiles, including Mrs Kuku, the new MD/CEO.

This infectious scene may likely play out in similar handover ceremonies across the four other agencies whose MD/CEOs were booted out of office by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, December13, 2023, in the coming days.

For now, there is silence of the graveyard in all the offices of the affected agencies, namely FAAN; Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, where Engr Akinola Olateru once held sway as Director-General; the Nigeria Meteorological Agency, NiMET where Professor Masur Bako Matazu was Director-General; the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, NCAT, where Captain Alkali Mahmud Modibbo, rtd, was Rector and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, where Captain Musa Shuaibu Nuhu, retd, the Director-General, was suspended to make room for investigation into his tenure.

The quiet, according to  investigation, is related to the suddenness of the sweeping changes and the uncertainty surrounding it. For no sooner had the Office of the President announced the removal of the heads of the agencies than the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, struck by sacking 38 directors across the agencies. Nobody, big or small, knows where the axe will swing next.

Almost all of the 38 directors and some of the MD/CEOs, were hurriedly and strategically appointed a few days to the end of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration by Keyamo’s predecessor, the controversial Hadi Sirika, in a manner that sources described as “irresponsible” and “job for the boys.” In fact, Sirika  made the political appointments three days before he left office in May 2023 to consolidate his hold on the aviation sector in case his plan of returning as Minister of Aviation in the Bola Tinubu administration on the recommendation of President Buhari, his uncle did not come to fruition.

For now, only the Board of Secretaries and Legal Advisers of the agencies have been unaffected by the ongoing sweeping changes. They may even be living on borrowed time.

Sources say these sets of officials have been left untouched because of their roles as record keepers, which is expected to come in handy in mapping the way forward after the dust raised by the ongoing changes to reposition the aviation sector for efficiency and effectiveness, has settled.

MORE TO FOLLOW

The last is yet to be heard of the massive reorganisation exercise going on in the nation’s aviation industry.

Coming a few months after he assumed office and pledged to uphold a five-point agenda regarding strict compliance with safety regulations within the sector; support for the growth and sustenance of local operators; improvement of infrastructure within the sector; human capital development and optimisation of revenue generation within the sector, Keyamo appears set to walk his talk and deliver on his mandate to make the sector regain the confidence of passengers and its lost glory.

The ongoing changes, agency sources say, are in line with the minister’s determination to benchmark Nigerian Civil Aviation against world class standards in consumer protection and the promotion of the well-being of aviation passengers and other sectoral stakeholders. It was gathered exclusively that senior personnel in the agencies will be reshuffled as part of the reorganisation. “Round pegs will go to round holes,” a government source with knowledge of the development told this newspaper anonymously.

Industry pundits have said the sack was expected. They say that the clandestine manner with which about 90 per cent of the affected officials found their way into their respective positions would be counterproductive to Keyamo’s agenda to reposition the sector.

Yet the minister had given them the chance to key into the new plan to no avail. A few weeks ago, he had warned all the heads of the agencies and other senior aviation workers to buckle up or be shown the door.

The minister’s warning came suddenly on the heels of a performance bond that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu asked members of his cabinet to sign and deliver on their mandate.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum after signing the presidential bond, Keyamo had said that the administration had set a Key Performance Index (KPI) as a yardstick to measure the activities of all the CEOs, adding that he would not hesitate to wield the big stick on anyone that falls short of expectations instead to save his job.

Bluntly, he told the heads of agencies: “On this side, it is either I get sacked or they get sacked. So, it is a race to who will survive. That’s what I have told all my CEOs, somebody must die first, but before I die, I will take you down.”

He added: “As you are aware, Mr. President has unveiled his economic plan. The three-year economic revival plan that emerged from his inaugural Federal Executive Council meeting is anchored on an eight-point focus area targeted at addressing Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges.”

Keyamo spoke of his desire to turn around the fortune of the sector and he bemoaned the alarming rate at which airlines in the country go out of business few years after starting operations, affirming that about 100 airlines have folded up in the last 20 to 25 years in Nigeria.

 

REACTIONS TO THE SWEEPING CHANGES

Condemning the multiplicity of aviation agencies in the sector, Ojikutu said the poor activities of some of the agencies are why Nigerian agro exports are unaffordable in the world markets.

He said: “Government agencies have seen the agro export and cargo terminals as revenue generating ventures for themselves and their agencies. This is inadvertently killing the economy.

“They don’t see export as a national project, but as a private profiteering business. That is why all government agencies, including those in the service sectors, are always pushing to come into the port, to earn revenues and issue worthless certificates that are not recognised anywhere in the world with the exception of two (NAQS “Phyto” and Customs “Entry”).

“There is no way you can establish traceability or certification (fundamentals) or make the unknown to be known of any product at the point of exit. That will be fraudulent and it will destroy this country Nigeria, which is already bleeding. The worst of it all is that you cannot stop the rejections or ban on Nigeria agro export in the international markets at the airport. Over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s agro export rejections, we believe, go through mostly from the seaports and land borders. The reason is that large volumes and those that cross through land borders are evading the regulators who will stop them from exporting non-standard goods.”

For the Secretary-General of the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Comrade Saidu Abdulrasaq, the changes were okay as long as politicians rather than core professionals in the industry were removed.

He condemned a situation where politicians are appointed into critical positions, while core professionals are left behind.

On the sacked directors, Saidu said that most of them had overstayed their tenures.

He said that when former aviation minister, Sirika, assumed office, Labour gave him guidelines that would have worked out if they were judiciously followed.

LAST STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL’S BACK

Rot in the Aviation Industry

With only 23 registered domestic carriers in the country, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, recently handed down a new amendment to its regulations and ordered domestic airlines to expand their fleets to a minimum of six aircraft by January 2025. Even so, only a few of the 23 are flying.

Industry stakeholders had been calling for drastic change in the aviation sector. At one such meeting held a fortnight ago in Lagos before the government and minister struck last week, the experts called on the government to move in to sanitise the sector.

Hosted by Aviation Round Table, which organises quarterly business breakfast meetings, during which stakeholders deliberate on issues that affect the sector, the meeting with the theme, “Nigerian Aviation Sector Charges, Duties and Tariffs,” was addressed by the former President of ART and Chairman, Sabre Networks, West Africa, Dr Gbenga Olowo. He canvassed urgent reforms and policies that will enhance easy ways of doing business in the aviation industry.

Recalling that IATA had been calling for the payment of the trapped funds in the industry, Olowo lamented, “that Nigeria carries the burden of the highest aviation debt globally, reaching a staggering $850 million as of May 2023, observing that the debt profile of Nigeria reveals that a single airline is grappling with an outstanding debt of $281 million trapped in the country,”

Other problems identified at the meeting included “multiple government agencies with overlapping functions, abuse of regulatory power for revenue purposes by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), outsourcing of revenue collection by MDAs to private revenue agents and lack of sufficient government support for the growth of the sector.”

 

The Immediate Cause

Apart from the obvious structural, financial and administrative challenges facing the industry, recent incidents amongst the domestic airlines operating in the country were becoming a serial affair.

On November 13th 2023, a Boeing 733 with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-BYQ belonging to Aero-contractors Airlines, was involved in a serious incident, which occurred around 10:47am (Local Time).

Upon landing at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja from Lagos and in a bid to exit the runway via A4, the aircraft’s nose wheel got stuck in the grass verge with its fuselage on the runway.

As a result, the runway was closed pending the towing of the aircraft from the runway. There was no injury or fatality.

Then the following day, November 14 2023, another incident involving a Bombardier CRJ-900LR aircraft with Nationality and Registration Marks 5N-BXR belonging to Valuejet Airlines occurred around 3:32pm (Local Time).

With 62 passengers and a crew of five, upon landing at the Port Harcourt International Airport from Lagos, it overshot the runway at runway 03.

In the same vein, a United Nigeria Airlines flight, NUA 0504, operating from the MM2 in Lagos en route Abuja on Sunday, November 26 2023, dramatically found itself in Asaba, a situation that experts have described as worrisome.

 

Why Keyamo Struck

When Keyamo assumed office, he knew from the beginning that there were many challenges facing the aviation sector. These challenges encompass a mix of prepared and unprepared issues, spanning local, continental and intercontinental concerns, some of which are desirable, while others are undesirable.

While these challenges might seem appealing at a glance, a closer examination reveals a complex mixture of protected issues and corrupt elements.

Alarmed by what he had heard through the grapevine, many of which were uncomplimentary, the minister dug further into the system.

Apart from the minister’s investigations and first-hand information, the National Assembly was coincidentally expressing deep concern over the frequent near-crash incidents, flight disruptions, cancellations and recent deviations from flight plans observed in Nigerian airlines.

Emphasising its commitment to safety, efficiency and the regularity of flights, the National Assembly found such occurrences in the aviation sector unacceptable.

The Chairman, House Committee on Aviation Abdullahi Garba, addressing the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA) meeting recently, underscored the country’s fortune in avoiding major air accidents for the past decade.

However, he cautioned that recent serious incidents and avoidable errors by indigenous airlines warrant attention.

Garba urged the Federal Government and aviation agencies to scrutinise airline activities to instill confidence in travellers. Once the President made the first move by sacking the heads of the agencies, the minister followed with a clean sweep of the Directors.

 

WAY FORWARD

The massive change going on in the aviation industry is said to be a welcome development. Most stakeholders have applauded the actions of Keyamo, stating that the changes made recently have been long overdue. To them, Keyamo will do very well if he continues to toe the line he is following presently.

For the minister, the first chapter in his move to reposition the industry is customer relations.

Keyamo said last week that all defaulting airlines must pay compensation for flight cancellations and delays.

He made the announcement during a meeting with the now sacked heads of agencies under his ministry. Also during a budget defence meeting with a joint Committee of the National Assembly on Aviation, last Thursday, he said: “We are not deaf to the cries of Nigerians about delays and cancelled flights. The law is there and we are looking at how to enforce those laws for compensation of Nigerians who bear the brunt of the cancellation of flights and disruption of activities.”

He said the process of grounding defaulting airlines or taking them to court to seek redress will create more problems. “So if the reason for the delay and cancellation of the flight is their fault they must pay compensation,” insisting that if the passengers don’t get cash back they must get some rebate when they buy the next ticket.

“I have set up a committee to look into it such that they can generate a code that they can use when they want to purchase the next ticket.”

An agenda to drive home his five-point agenda is said to be in the works after the house cleaning of the agencies are over.

Capt Ojikutu urged officials who are core professionals to insist on doing their job according to their job description and not pander to the whims of politicians, saying “if the politicians are interfering with the job of the core professional, they have the option to leave.”

He said: “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 as professionals. ”

“There are people who have been in the system and I ask them why are you there and you refuse to talk. That is the danger.”