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.
