NAMA to maintain Safe Tower Project with #36.2b

NAMA Sets to Improve Nigeria's Airspace with #36.2 billion 

ZAINAB JUNAID 

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has concluded plan to improve, maintain and repair where necessary the country’s Safe Tower Project (STP) with the sum of #36. 2 billion.

Managing Director of NAMA, Mr. Mathew Lawrence Pwajok disclosed this in an interactive session with journalists over the weekend in Lagos adding that Overhaul Included in the STP are the upgrade of the air traffic management system, surveillance system, and meteorological system in the four major airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano.

In his breakdown, the agency through the Federal Government had approved N13 billion for the Safe Tower Project (STP), N23.2 billion for the upgrade of the soft and hardware of the Total Radar Coverage, otherwise known as TRACON.

Aside from that, the upgrade would also occur to nine Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radars (RSM 970M) to cover the following stations – Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ilorin, Maiduguri, Talata-Mafara, Numan, and Obubra configured to be interconnected through a VSAT network and one that intends to improve the country airspace surveillance.

NAMA is on the verge of completing it’s pet project, the Wide Area Multi-lateration (WAM) system, which is a surveillance system to cover Nigeria’s delta region and it’s cost was placed at $12.9 million.

Since Oil and gas activities are occasioned by a lot of helicopter operations in the Niger Delta and the purpose of WAM is to capture these flight operations that are outside the radar coverage areas in the country.

This is done for safety and security purposes and according to the agency, benefits of the system include the provision of low-cost extension of the surveillance coverage for low altitudes and areas where no radar coverage currently exists; optimization of surveillance infrastructure through the efficient mix of radar sensors, MLAT and ADS-B; increased airspace safety and capacity by providing separation to aircraft operating in the region.

The project upon completion, Mr. LAWRENCE said would provide an additional source of revenue for the agency and MLAT applications, particularly when combined with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) to provide important operational improvements by addressing some of the limitations of the traditional radar surveillance system, optimize the controller workload and provide benefits in the areas of safety, capacity, efficiency, and environmental impact, thus contributing to the overall Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management  (CNS/ATM) objectives.

NAMA Boss also disclosed that the multi-billion Naira radar for Lagos and Abuja airports that were commissioned in 2010 with a five-year maintenance agreement signed with Thales of France had expired since 2015, a situation that has put the agency in a tight corner on how to keep the air safety tool functioning. 

Thanks to the expertise of the agency’s engineers who had kept the system working and one that had made the air traffic management system seamless for air traffic controllers and pilots.

In his words, “A whole lot of money has been saved through that action of our engineers to keep the system running. There had been significant improvement in traffic management with the radar. With this radar, we can see traffic up to Accra, Yaounde, Malabo, and many other places”.

The NAMA boss noted that the idea was to increase the efficiency of the airports and reduce the workload in the control tower and automate what was hitherto analogue system into digital..

Pwajok said that information regarding weather, regarding all of the components of weather, winds, rain, and macroburst would be displayed automatically.

He further disclosed that most of the Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) at virtually all Nigerian airports are obsolete, hinting that the agency was already replacing all the equipment to at least category 2 ILS.

In aviation, the ILS is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather.

In its original form, it allows an aircraft to approach until it is 200 feet (61 m) over the ground, within a 1⁄2 mile (800 m) of the runway.

We have done category 2 ILS in at least ten airports. ILS has been installed in Enugu, Sokoto, and Abuja. Category 2 was done at Lagos airport 18/R. We have done the same in Akure, Ilorin, and many other places. We have category three ILS in Katsina, Lagos, Port-Harcourt, and Abuja. We have completed satellite navigation for backup in the event of power failure”.

“We have provided ILS in over 32 airports at the moment at all the Federal Government owned airports and state-owned aerodromes

NIMASA OFR Award: MAJAN Congratulates DG

MAJAN Congratulates NIMASA DG on award of OFR conferment 

ZAINAB JUNAID 

The Maritime Journalists Association of Nigeria (MAJAN), has felicitated with the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, on the national honour bestowed on him by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The President of the Association, Comrade Ray Ugochukwu, Congratulated NIMASA boss in a press statement released on MAJAN platform today.

Ugochukwu described the award of Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR), conferred on Dr. Jamoh, as an honour well deserved.

He stated emphatically that Dr Jamoh deserves such honour following his hard work, resilience and tenacity in moving Nigerian Maritime industry to greater heights.

The MAJAN President, also commended the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Engr Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, who is working tirelessly to reposition the transport sector for greater efficiency within a short period of his assumption in office.

Lekki Airport, ASRTI

Lekki-EPE Airport: ASRTI Advocates Public Private Partnership Initiatives 

 ZAINAB JUNAID 

The Aviation Safety Round Table INITIATIVE (ASRTI) has declared full support and whole heartedly welcomed the decision of the Lagos State Government to build an airport in the Lekki axis to cater for the bourgeoning population and businesses around the Lekki industrial layout. 

This is coming after the country’s Aviation Minister, Senator Hadi Sirika, presented a letter of approval for a new airport to be built in Lagos State at the on going Ehingbeti Lagos Economic summit on Tuesday. 

Spokesman for the Round Table group, Olumide Ohunayo, in a statement made available to journalists reiterated that despite earlier promises and the potentials including the extensive plans for the development of the area over the years, the project never took off and the Lekki corridor continued to expand, creating congestion, logistic and traffic chaos, impacting the economic and business opportunities in the area.

However in view of the latest development by the government and for the benefit of Lagos at large, the group strongly advocate for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) and the need for the regulator, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation, to give the necessary support and approvals for this project.

His words, “We are also calling on the relevant agencies and tiers of government,  to as a matter of urgency,  commence with the repair of the Cenotaphs erected to honour the  fallen air passengers at Lisa, Epe and Ejigbo respectively. These sites serve as a memorial of the dark history of our industry and to honour to our fallen citizens. Therefore, roads leading to these sites should  be fixed for accessibility.”

In a related development, Aviation Minister at the Ehingbeti summit, acknowledged the economic potential of Lagos State and affirmed that the Federal Government did not hesitate to approve Lagos request for a new airport because its rich culture, history, industries, and tourism potential needs to be connected to the rest of the world.

“This city, which houses about 26.7 percent of national GDP, housing our stock exchange, 200 financial institutions, 25 million people, on 5,377 square kilometres of landmass plus Eko Atlantic, plus all the industries, the rich culture, the tradition, the history, the tourist attraction the Eyo Festival, and so on and so forth, needs to be connected to the world to continue to be the center of the economy of the activity of the country, Nigeria,” Sirika said.

“And the only way you can link this city of Lagos to the world is obviously — not the only way, but the best way to connect — by infrastructure.

“So, when his excellency, the governor, approached us in [the] civil aviation ministry and says he wants to build an airport in Lagos, another airport? I said yes, this is a huge step in the very right direction. And the reason is simple. As I said, in my days in Lagos, the terminal point is Maroko, Sandfield. When you go there, you only go to the mechanic to do panel beating for you — that’s it.

“But today, from here, all the way to outer VGC, all the way to Epe, it’s Lagos. The expansion is astronomical, it’s huge, it’s big. The ideas and the size of the economy are good and big. So you need to continue to link Lagos, not only with Nigeria, [but] Africa and the world.

So if you look at all these financial institutions, the 200 industrial estates, and the Eko Atlantic, there must be a way that these people will come in and out of Lagos on another alternatively, which is the airport in Lekki. Your Excellency, the Governor, this is a huge step in the right direction, we didn’t waste time giving the approval. And we’re happy to present the certificate today.”

NAMA Recruits

 NAMA sets to Recruit 100 Air Traffic Controllers 

ZAINAB JUNAID 

In a bid to fill the vacuum created by impending shortage of Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) in the nation’s aviation industry, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has concluded plan to recruit at least 100 personnel between 2022 and 2028 respectively. 

Managing Director of NAMA, Mr. Lawrence Pwajok disclosed this while speaking at the 51st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), held in Ibadan, Oyo State, over the weekend, adding that about 40 Controller Cadets are currently undergoing training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, in order to fill the expected vacuum in the next six years. 

Pwajok, who attributed proliferation of aerodromes across the country to the scarcity of air traffic controllers in the aviation industry, noted that NAMA management had envisaged the gap in the number of ATCOs and had hitherto concluded plan to employ at least 100 controllers between 2022 and 2028. 

He explained that though controller staffing has fallen drastically since 2010, the agency is fully ready to employ more hands. 

His words, “Management is aware of the current and impending shortage of air traffic controllers due to retirement, death, and unrelenting increase in the number of airports around the country. 

“Management is also aware of the pressure that shortage has been exerting and may further exerting on your members. Let me assure you that we are already working to ensure that the situation does not become an emergency.

 “Presently, a Basic ATC Course is running in NCAT Zaria for 40 cadets and very soon, another set will resume as soon as Zaria has space. This is besides efforts at obtaining approval to recruit additional 100 Air Traffic Controllers for strategic replacement of ATCOS that will retire from service up to 2028.” 

Pwajok who was represented at the event by Mr. Jubril Haske, NAMA’s Director of Operations confirmed that the 40 cadets undergoing training at Zaria are different from the 100 personnel planned for the agency by 2028. 

He revealed further that NAMA management had also recruited another six controllers trained by Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) into the agency to address the expected shortage. 

“At least 36 Air Traffic Controller Officers (ATCOs) had been trained in various courses and countries in the last six months,” he said. 

All these training, Pwajok maintained were tailored towards achieving seamless conduct of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) for the country.