Olusegun Koiki, Lagos
The Federal Government has approved an onsite visit to Spain by some critical staff of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to inspect some surveillance facility systems for enhanced airspace safety and security.
A statement by Alhaji Abdullahi Musa, the Director, Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, NAMA, said that the facilities would be installed across the nation’s airports and other remote installations.
Musa also said that the agency’s management would engage technology solution providers to address security challenges as well upgrade the agency’s surveillance systems.
The statement stated that Engr. Umar Farouk, the Managing Director, NAMA, made this known while receiving a delegation from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) at the agency’s corporate headquarters in Abuja.
Farouk declared that the Nigerian Air Force remained a valuable ally to the agency with regards to the safety and security of the nation’s airspace.
He explained that the collaboration between the two agencies over time had been critical to the sustenance of airspace safety and security in Nigeria.
“NAMA handles civil operations, while the Air Force oversees security. Our close collaboration is vital for maintaining a safe and secure airspace,” he said.
In his remarks, Air Vice Marshal Abubakar Abdulkadir, the leader of the NAF delegation, stated that the Nigerian Air Force had recently enhanced its capabilities to secure the nation’s airspace with new platforms designed for national air defense and stationed with the Air Defense Group in Makurdi.
He maintained that the NAF had also completed its day training and was close to finishing night trainings, which would enable rapid response and interception of any intruders in the Nigerian airspace.
He also shared an update on the NAF’s enhanced capabilities to monitor and identify all aircraft entering and exiting the Nigerian airspace.
He added that improved collaboration and partnership between NAMA and the NAF would sustain the current security and safety in the nation’s airspace.
Abdulkadir described NAMA and NAF as “twin children of the same mother”, saying that NAF’s responsibility for airspace security complements NAMA’s role in airspace management.
Joint training initiatives aimed at addressing the shortage of Air Traffic Controllers across the country were considered as the Nigerian Air Force training centre in Kaduna, which recently got accredited by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) would see at least 20 NAMA staff being trained annually.
Read the full article here
