*Demands govt’s seriousness in aviation sector
By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Ogun State gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the last general elections, Ambassador Olufemi Ajadi on Monday, tasked the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to take urgent steps on aircrafts operating at Nigeria’s airports.
Ambassador Ajadi in a statement, said this is necessary in view of the various challenges encountered by passengers during flights as a result of poor maintenance capacity of aircrafts operating at Nigerian airports.
According to him, the situation is a primitive system that needs urgent attention from various relevant government authorities, saying the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other relevant government agencies should be up and doing in the area of policy formation, implementation and execution, such as mandating airlines operation with standard and better aircrafts.
Ambassador Ajadi also called for stringent sanctions against any airline that fails to airlift passengers on scheduled time, as well as other violation of local content policy of the country, where some airlines are still selling tickets in dollars instead of Nigerian currency, Naira.
Recalling that his recent experience in boarding an aircraft within the country was not palatable and nothing to write about, Ambassador Ajadi pointed out that most of the airlines are operating with old and obsolete aeroplanes that are unfit
He stressed that the airline industry, especially those running local businesses, should be monitored and sanctioned if necessary by the relevant federal government agencies like NCAA, adding that nonchalant attitude of government towards some areas of human endeavours and economic growth and development are major factors responsible for negligence of most of the airline companies.
” If government wakes up to its responsibility in sanctioning most of these erring airline operators, they will think twice and wake up to their responsibility. But our government does not take us serious, I have called their attention twice to our plight in the aviation sector but nothing good comes from their part, this is the third time I am calling their attention to the suffering of Nigerians in the aviation sector”, he said.
Ajadi added, “ The airline, in which I have been boarding in the recent times were turning all the boarding passengers into prayer-warriors as the aeroplane was jerking in a worrisome manner. Apart from the usage of old and obsolete aircrafts by most of the airline companies, the environment of the departure and arrival are not too conducive at all.
” Just recently on my way from Abuja to Lagos, the airline, Dana that supposed to board us by 9pm on Friday was not available until Saturday morning. We are just left stranded, no accommodation, no foods, we are just hanging around here, everywhere was hot and this act made me lose millions of Naira worth of contract.
“I am calling on relevant government agencies particularly Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to take urgent steps in saving Nigerians from this avoidable acts by various airlines in the country”.
New Nigerian recalls that recently, Ajadi threatened to sue Dana Airline for N50 million damages over failure to provide a scheduled plane to airlift him and other passengers from Abuja to Lagos resulting into losing of contract worth millions of Naira.
