Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has again reiterated the crucial role of the ministry hence, described it as key and central to the sustainable growth and development of all other sectors in the country’s economy.
He made this statement at the 2023 Aviation Management retreat held at Jubili Hotel, Warri, Delta State.
Speaking at the reterat held at hisninstance for relevant key players in Warri, Deltq State,
Keyamo decalrrd: “This retreat is apt considering the fact that one of the major goals of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration is to position the Nigerian Aviation Industry as a Hub on the African continent and the world at large.
Keyamo while expressing the optimism that his 5- point priority agenda would be disaggregated and cascaded into actionable program and projects by all Departments and Agencies under his ministry, remarked: “Our task in this retreat is to brainstorm , deliberate and carry out a SWOT Analysis of the Aviation sector with a view to proffering practical solutions to attain the desired results.
“We need to be proactive and circumspect in our deliberations regarding where we are today as an industry, where we desire to be and most importantly, how to get there.
“There is no doubt that growth and development in the Aviation sector should be private sector driven to attract foreign direct investment. As policy makers, we have a responsibility to ensure that deployment of policies, programs and project are well articulated and in compliance with ICAO standard”.
Keyamo who described the 70 percent scored by Nigeria at the recent 2023 ICAO Universal Oversight Audit Program as against the 75 percent benchmark set as unacceptable, emphasized the importance of the Aviation sector as first and foremost a safety and security critical industry, which all relevant key players must subsequently enforce, properly monitored and evaluated to maintain these standards.
Keyamo told all participants at the retreat that he expects vibrant engagement during the three day’s event used the opportunity to express the desire of Mr. President towards the transformation of the country which he said falls in line with his own passion through his agenda for the transformation of the Aviation sector.
According to Keyamo: “In the same vein, I expect you all to share same passion in transforming your Departments and Agencies for the good of the Aviation Industry and the Nation at large. We should be ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work”.
He however, encourage all at the retreat to make out time to explore the warmth and hospitality of the people of Warri and relish its culture & cuisine.
Speaking earlier, Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Buhari Abdulatif ably represented by
Peter Jiya, the Vice Chairman Senate Committee on Aviation in his good will messages urged the government to tackle the challenges in the aviation industry by improving the aviation business in Nigeria to attract foreign investors in-order to achieve great feat.
He further said infrastructure at the major Airports should be improved upon, such as safety concerns, high cost of aviation fuel, high operation cost, inadequate funding and resources, flight delays and cancellations and lack of skilled manpower should be addressed.
For Honourable Abdulahi Idris Garba, the Chairman House Committee on Aviation, represented by Honourable Akingbaso Festus, Deputy Chairman House committee on Aviation in his remark assured the ministry and her agencies of the committee’s commitment to give legislative backings to the fruition of its projects.
