The Managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs Olubunmi Kuku has emphasized the importance of air cargo to the development of any government and country.
Kuku who made the declaration during the meeting of FAAN management with the enlarged membership of the Aviacargo Roadmap committee in Lagos, called on the committee to provide her with a quicker schedule of the implementation of the committee for quick attention.
According to the FAAN MD: “Give me a Quicker schedule of Implementation. Air Cargo is of Great importance to this Government. We want things done a little Faster”.
The Coordinator of the Committee, Mr. Ikechi Uko who had earlier briefed her on the work done so far, however, pointed out that the meeting between the committee and tye FAAN MD is the first of the enlarged committee with the authority in over 10 months.
Uko thanked the MD for meeting with the team and renewing the commitment of FAAN to the successful completion of the Project.
The Roadmap committee was set up in December 2022 to provide a roadmap to grow Air Cargo in Nigeria from the 5th position in Africa to Number One on the Continent.
There has been 3 changes of the Chief Executives at FAAN within 12 months with Mrs Kuku taking
over in December 2023.
These changes disrupted the project as all meetings ceased until the team at FAAN settled in.
Within this period, FAAN implemented some parts of the suggestions made by the committee which led to the creation of a new directorate of cargo development and services.
These Changes at FAAN led to recent meetings between the committee and the directorate to streamline the sctivities between the two of them.
The coordination between the directorate and the committee led to the latest enlarged meeting with the MD of FAAN and her team.
Among the Outcomes of the meeting today is the launch of a pilot project of exports through four selected Airports.
According to Aviacargo Roadmap Committee Cantional Coordinator, “there will be a trial run of perishables export from harvesting at the farm through the Lagos Airport in a timeline of less than 24 hours. There will be another trial run of cereals through the Kano Airport. There will also be a trial run of exports through the Enugu Airport. The last trial run will be from Jos Airport.”
These trial runs are to test the effectiveness of the Air Cargo pathway developed by the Roadmap Committee. The trial runs will involve the stakeholders of the Air Cargo Ecosystem. Other agencies of government including: NEPC,NAFDAC,SON,NAQS,NDLEA and Nigerian Customs will all be involved in the pilot projects.
A sub-committee headed by NAQS representative that was set up to strategize and fasttrack the implementation of the trial runs was given 2 weeks to submit its report.
The FAAN MD commended the members of the Roadmap Committee for their passion and perseverance to stay on the course thus far and encouraged them to fasten the speed of the project now that FAAN has reinforced its suppprt for the project.
She received the team along with FAAN directors of Special Duties, Legal Services and that of Cargo Development and Services.
The Roadmap team included members of the lead team and representatives of NAQS,SON,NAGAFF, Link Global, NAHCO and ANLCA.