Former minister of Aviation, Air Vice Marshal Anthony Okpere (retd)
A Former minister of Aviation, Air Vice Marshal Anthony Okpere (retd) has called for more funding of facilities and training of personnel to further enhance safety in the sector.
Speaking in Abuja recently at the just concluded AGM of the National Association of Airtraffic Communicators (NACAN), AVM Okpere who was the chairman of the occasion, while reacting to the issue of shortage of personnel in the aviation industry, noted that except the gap in the sector between those retiring and serving personnel were bridged, the industry would soon start experiencing problems.
According to the AVM, except the country spend money in acquiring equipment the lives of people and that of the industry would be in danger.
“The job they are doing is so important, except they are find a way to bridge that gap, we will soon have problems. We talk about modern means of communications, except we spend money, the lives of people and the industry is in danger”.
The Former minister of aviation noted that, the air traffic communicators were doing a great job but needed to be encouraged by providing them with the necessary working tools and training.
He noted that in 1988, the Ground to Ground communication was recognised in the airspace, adding that, without adequate ground to ground communications that fell in line with modern ways of doing things, the country can not go anywhere.
The AVM who recalled how he was appointed minister of aviation after it was carved out of the transport ministry, lamented that no minister that came after him had been able to consult him for clarifications on certain issues in the ministry.
“The people I handed over to, tried to do their best but there were a lot of problems because there were certain things to things they did not understand we put them down. Being not aviators and not conversant with rules and regulations of aviation and no minister since then ever invited me to come to the ministry to explain the rationale behind any of the decisions taken”.
“I decided to stay quietly on my own because you don’t pour water on the back of a stone, it doesn’t sink. My opinion does not matter, so, I keep myself shut”.
AVM Okpere also recalled in 1987 how the ministry took off with only three staff after he drafted the Decree that set up the various agencies in the sector that gave rise to the Federal Civil Aviation Authority, FCAA.
He lamented that everybody had became experts in the industry especially when there were plane crashes, saying that, it had not augured well for the industry.
AVM Okpere called for fairness and professionalism in the recruitment of aviation personnel, stressing that, when ethnicity, favoritism were considered first they would be sacrificing competence and efficiency.
