Aviation
Curbing Insecurity At Nigeria’s Airports
The renewed threat to global security through explosives has necessitated the need for aviation authorities to reinforce security measures around the Nigerian airports. As part of the measures, Nigeria signed an agreement with the United States on deployment of Air Marshals in US-Bound flights for enhanced security.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren signed on behalf of Nigeria while John Halinski, Assistant Administrator, Office of Global Strategies, Transport Security Administration (TSA) signed for the United States of America.
According to Demuren, it will give Nigeria the opportunity to have its aviation security officials trained on how to handle threat to the aircraft. He explained that Nigeria and the US have to work together to improve security on board the aircraft and to stop terror, since the Umar Farouk Abdulmutalab incident in 2009.
America will help us train our people for free and improve measues through aviation security. This is because no country is inmune, he said, adding. “it will help us to share safety and security information. All the American airlines need to do is to get the permission of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority for the Marshals to do their work, while the aircraft is flying in and out of our airspace”.
In fact, this is a concerted effort to improve aviation security. It has become necessary for Nigeria to take another step towards beefing up security at our airports and aircraft to take the aviation industry to the next level. This agreement will involve the deployment of in-fight security officers/Air Marshals.
Both countries have been working on this agreement signed at the TSA Headquarters, Arlington, Virginia, US, in the presence of Nigeria’s Ambassador to US, Professor Adefuye, for some years now, before it was signed last weekend.
The agreement is part of measures by the American government to improve safety and security on the trans-atlantic routes because of the latest threat to air safety in the wake of terrorist attacks. Air Marshals work undercover to prevent or interfere with criminal acts which may occur on board an aircraft or in an airport.
The Air Marshal programme first started in the United States in 1968 after a few international hijackings on airplanes. The programme was small and most marshals were used on international flights, which were considered at risk for hijacking. When airports across the world began using metal detectors to screen passengers, the air Marshals were reduced following terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, the programme was expanded. The programme is run by the Transport Security Administration (TSA).
Part of why the Marshals work undercover is to deter criminals as marshals observe passengers at the airport before departure and onboard the aircraft.
Their main role is to keep passengers and crew safe from terrorist activity and other types of criminal behaviour.
Most Marshals have experience in law enforcement, such as working as a Police Officer but marshals, who do not have law enforcement experience but have a degree in criminal justice, may be considered for a position depending on the number of job openings.The rising trend of terrorist activities in Nigeria prompted the signing into law the Terrorism (Prevention) Bill 2011 and it was passed by the just-concluded 6th National Assembly. Under the law, it is an offence to finance terrorism. The Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 establishes measures for the prevention, prohibition and combating of acts of terrorism and the financing of terrorism.
The Act also provides for the effective implementation of the convention on the prevention and combating of terrorism as well as the convention on the suppression of the financing of terrorism and prescribes penalties for the violation of its provisions.
The Federal Government should pay greater attention to security in the nation’s airports because they are gateways and play key roles in the nation’s economy. Those who invest in the aviation sector pay huge revenue to the Federal Government or federation account in form of duties, taxation and import charges. The President, Goodluck Jonathan should take the issue of airport security and airspace more seriously as the sector is seen as one of the largest revenue sources after oil and gas industry.
Insecurity at the airports could scare investors from the country and hamper airport operations taking into account the spate of terrorism and bombings in some parts of the country. Large investment opportunities capable of determining the nation’s economy position are available in the airports and this speaks volumes about the strategic position the aviation industry occupies in investment trade, such that a significant part of export and import are done through the sector.
Nigeria is a country whose economic activities depend solely on the exportation and importation of finished products and raw materials including crude oil as well as refined petroleum products. All these contribute to the volume of import and export in the country and underscores how lucrative investments in the country’s airport business is. But the poor state of our airports, mostly the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa in terms of access road, users roads, equipment, infrastructure and security, is seen as being below standard. Within last year and now, the airport has recorded several cases of accident that claimed lives.
Access roads to and within the airports and insecurity as well as lack of perimeter fence are some of the problems confronting the nation’s airports, which need to be addressed by the Federal Government if the country intends to sustain is Category One status and achieve growth in the sector. The high level of insecurity in the nation’s airports has become so glaring that users are no longer safe. The government should wake up to its responsibilities.
The Federal Government should make enough budgetary provision for the agencies in-charge of the airports such as the FAAN, NCAA, NAMA and others to effectively develop the airports and guide the airspace and aircraft flying Nigerian and international routes. This is necessary to save one of the nation’s big sources of revenue. The aviation industry has a very huge revenue potential and employment generation and the country can not afford to lose it. The high level of insecurity in the sector has made importation and exportation a very risky business so it has become imperative for the Federal Government to provide the needed equipment for bomb detection and others around the airports, which enable security agents to mount surveillance on the airports and their surrounding environments.
Airports are very crucial gateways that connect a country with other international communities and if left in a very bad shape and exposed the activities of terrorists and other criminal acts, foreigners would not like to do business in our country for fear of insecurity.
Therefore, to protect the image of the country in the global market and view, the Federal Government should provide the needed equipment to the concerned agencies to do their security jobs effectively.
Nigerians should make security-consciousness their cardinal principle and a way of life. FAAN and other agencies should re-appreaise the existing strategies on raising awareness on potential security threats and re-orientate the public through the media.
The recent security challenges in some parts of the country have signaled the need for increased awareness at our airports and other public places. There have been recent unrest, insecurity, flashes of threats and violence in some parts of the country due to inter and intra political party conflicts, socio-economic agitations, ethno-religious crises, organized rebellion and outright criminality.
The state of insecurity and challenging threats necessitates a renewed strategy in public awareness in the management of security and civic responsibilities. The idea of sharing information will blossom so the bottom-line is for everybody to log on to the idea always by being security-conscious. FAAN and NCAA as NAMA, should work towards getting passengers and other airport users to adopt to changing intelligence needs, which are challenging due to the existing structure that need the most security attention.
There is need to fashion out a programme of action considering the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria to achieve the goals of our airports as well as strengthen national security.
The anti-terrorism law should be seriously enforced, irrespective of who is involved just as the security scope, methodology and effectiveness of security officers and their functions should be redefined.
Security agents at the airports should be vigilant to cope with the serious security challenge and to address them. The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at the nation’s airports is a potent means of curbing insecurity, even in the airplanes.
Shedie Okpara
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), established via the Act of Parliament, has the mandate to provide safe, efficient, effective and economic air navigation services to airspace users, through deployment of new technologies and dedicated workforce.
The vision is for NAMA to be one of the leading Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) in the w
NAMA’s Acting Managing Director,orld.
Mr Mathew Pwajok, said the agency had initiated relevant projects to enable it live up to expectation.
He spoke recently when he featured at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.
Pwajok said the government was ready to install Category 3 Instrument Landing System (ISL) in three international airports in the country.
He listed the airports as: Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, Port Harcourt International Airport and the Katsina Airport, bringing airports with Category 3 ILS to five.
According to him, ILS is a navigational equipment that provides lateral guidance for an aircraft, sky guidance for the aircraft and the longitudinal guidance for the aircraft when landing.
“Navigational facility is one of the very critical requirements for access into an airport safely, efficiently and economically. We place very high premium on the procurement and installation of navigational equipment.
“Over the past five years, we have deployed significantly a large number of navigational equipment. I can go through some of them by justifying my statement.
“Currently, we have installed what we call Category 3 Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Lagos and Abuja airports.
“We are also planning to install addition ones in Kano, Port Harcourt and Katsina.”
The NAMA chief, who explained that Category 3 landing system was the highest category for landing anywhere in the world, said that government was set to invest heavily to ensure that all the nation’s international airports had the facility.
Pwajok said that lighting system would complement Category 3.
He said that Category 3 approach system was also required to guide pilots, using the instrument landing system.
“Currently, we have installed instrument landing system of Category 2 that requires what we call low visibility operations.
“In operations, where the visibility is below 800m and not lower than 300m, we use what we call a Category 2 instrument landing system.
“For a Category 1 instrument landing system, which are few, you need 800m visibility or more.
“That is to say, visibility must be about 1km (1,000m) for you to be able to do a Catigory1 landing system, the lowest of the three categories.
“For Category 3, when the aircraft and the flight crew are adequately certified for it, with the visual lighting system available, you can basically land in zero visibility, “he said.
Pwajok said that Category 2 ILS was installed in Sokoto, Kano, Minna, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Yola, Jos, Enugu and Benin airports.
He said that Category 2 ILS was currently being installed in Ilorin, Ibadan and Akure airports, noting that some state airports such as Gombe, Kebbi, Bayelsa and Anambra had already installed Category 2 ILS facilities.
The NAMA boss explained that the airport at Lafia in Nasarawa State, which also had Category 2 ILS had not been opened to services because it had not yet been inaugurated.
Pwajok said that Categroy1 facilities were still being used in few airports, pointing out that government had planned to replace them with Category 2 ILS.
“We have other equipment that can guide airplanes to airports and we call them Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range (VOR), a ground-based electronic system that provides information for high and low altitude routes and airport approaches.
“The VOR is like a broadcast station. It transmits information. Unlike radio station where you tune and hear music, for this navigational facility, when you tune, it gives you directional guidance.
“It directs you for example, if you are going to Lagos, it shows you where the direction to Lagos is. So you fly on that flight path.
“It will also give you the distance to where you are going as well as distance from where you are coming from,” Pwajok said.
The NAMA boss further said the agency was currently upgrading control towers in four international airports to enhance air traffic management.
Pwajok said that the control towers, installed over 10 years ago, were obsolete and as such needed to be upgraded.
“On our project, we currently have a safe tower project. In 2005/2006, we have some air craft crashes.
“In 2007, the Obasanjo government implemented what we called the safe tower, which simply refers to automated air travel management system at the control towers of Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt airports.
“Now, these systems after over 10 years are due for upgrade and currently that is what we are doing to upgrade the control tower at the four international airports- Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt.
“ This is to bring them in line with the right capacity, the right functionality and capability for enhanced air traffic management at these airports,’’ he said.
Pwajok explained that a total raider coverage, that was inaugurated over 10 years ago by then President Goodluck Jonathan also needed an upgrade.
He said the Federal Government approved N28 billion for the upgrade of the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON).
“They are in nine locations – Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Ilorin, Obubra in Cross Rivers, Maiduguri, Talata-Mafara in Kebbi and Numan in Adamawa.
“These equipment provide a complete coverage of Nigeria on raider, so aircraft flight within the country are seen and controlled by air traffic controllers in the radar.
“So, the equipment are being upgraded to be in line with global standards and also in line with the expectations of increased traffic volume and requirement for safety and efficiency of flight.
“So this project is currently ongoing and we are doing a survey movement raider and ground control at Lagos and Abuja that will provide surface guidance for aircraft,” he said.
He said once they were upgraded, there would then be a surveillance control from departure gate to arrival gate that would be fully automated.
He added that there would be an automated system that would sequence aircraft on departure, stressing that this would completely reduce delays.
“At the moment what we do is that the air traffic controller uses his judgment to determine which aircraft comes first.
“But automated system will detect the speed of an aircraft, the performance and the direction the aircraft is coming from and will now have an air traffic controller to sequence them on arrival.
“We are implementing that in Lagos and Abuja, and hopefully by this year, this project will be completed as it is one of our key projects,’’ he added.
Pwajok said the country currently has 13 modernised and automated control tower projects to enhance air traffic control at the airports, adding that similar projects had been completed in Zaria and Kastina states.
He said that the control towers had been integrated with metrological data, where regular weather reports would be brought into the system.
On navigation, he said the agency had deployed a very High Frequency Omni-directional radio-range (VOR) Doppler that would guide aircraft, either over flying on airspace or flying from one airport to the other.
He said that this equipment had replaced initial landing system instrument, adding that the satellite navigation system that gives precision on aeronautical management had been deployed.
According to him, Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) have been installed in 26 locations – 24 in airports, one in NAMA and one in NEMA headquarters to facilitate search and rescue.
According to him, this VSAT will provide digital exchange of information at a very high speed and voice exchange of information using ground radius and air ground communication between air traffic controllers and pilots.
He said if fully completed, it would enhance air ground communication, ground to ground communication and electronic management of information of flight movement.
The NAMA boss assured that the agency would do all within its powers to boost air safety in Nigeria.
By: Gabriel Agbeja
Agbeja writes for News Agency of Nigeria NAN
At least 300 staff of Arik Air have been relieved of their appointments by the airline’s management.
This was announced in a statement by the airline on Friday.
It blamed the sacking on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
The press statement was titled, “Arik Air management declares 300 staff redundant”.
The company explained that a redundancy package would be provided for the affected workers with the help of the aviation unions.
The statement read in part, “Arising from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the constrained ability of the airline to complete heavy maintenance activities and return its planes to operations, stunted revenues against increasing operational costs, the management of Arik Air (In Receivership) has declared 300 staff members redundant to its current level of operations.
“The leadership of the impacted unions has been contacted to negotiate a redundancy package for the affected staff.”
The airline added that over 50 per cent of its workforce of over 1,600 staff have been on furlough in the past six months.
In a separate statement also forwarded to our correspondent by its Public Relations and Communications Manager, Banji Ola, the airline apologised to passengers whose travel plans were disrupted by the protest carried out by the National Union of Air Transport Employees on December 3, 2020.
The picketing disrupted operations in Lagos and prevented the airline from processing passengers at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Domestic Terminal 1 and 2.
South-East leaders on Saturday, lauded the Federal Government on the matured and responsive manner it handled all issues relating to the EndSARS protest and agitation.
The leaders of the zone, which included Governors, Senators, House of Representatives members as well as traditional, religious and youth leaders, gave the commendation in a communiqué issued after their meeting with a Presidential delegation in Enugu.
The presidential delegation was led by Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, who is the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We thank President Buhari for the speed and restraint with which he handled the EndSARS protest, which has engendered peace throughout the country, especially the South-East.
“We, therefore, request the President to look into demands of various groups and youths with a view to resolving them,’’ the statement, which was read by the Chairman of South-East Governors’ Forum, Governor Dave Umehi, said.
It also called for joint operation by security agencies and local vigilant groups into all forests in the zone to flush out criminals and killer herdsmen with AK47 rifles.
“But we pledge our commitment to continuous coexistence with peaceful herdsmen who have been living peacefully with us.
“We stand for an indivisible and united Nigeria, built on love, fairness, equity and justice. We believe that under this platform – NIGERIA; we are bigger and stronger,’’ it said.
It also called on the Federal Government to continue its support and diplomatic push for the former Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to be elected as the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The statement thanked the Federal Government for the timely interventions in Akanu Ibiam International Airport rehabilitation as well as intervention in road infrastructures in the zone.
“We are grateful for the attention given to the second Niger Bridge and completion and inauguration of the Zik’s mausoleum.
“However, we urge the Federal Government to give attention to the completion of the current road projects within the zone,’’ it said.
The statement said that the states in the zone will provide money for the compensation for those affected by the EndSARS protest, help to rebuild police stations and their logistics; while engaging the youths constantly to forestall any violent development in the zone.
“We have plans to set up various empowerment programmes to gainfully engage the youths. The governors also plan to mainstream the youths in their governance to give them a sense of belonging.