Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has stated categorically that the nation’s aviation industry is ready for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP).
The audit is coming 10 years after the last audit was conducted IN 2006.
The Director General of NCAA, Capt Muhtar Usman made the declaration at the opening ceremony of USOAP in Lagos.
There is cooperation and working relationship between all the relevant parastatals and the regulatory authority towards a successful outing, he said.
“I wish to state unequivocally that Nigeria is absolutely ready for the exercise .The authority has left no stone unturned and all hands were put on deck to ensure adequate preparation”, he said
The DG noted that periodic audit and certification are not unfamiliar to the agencies and stakeholders in the aviation industry, adding that successive audit have been concluded with successes and that with all intent and purposes this exercise would be successful.
He said Nigeria scored over 90 per cent in the counterpart ICAO Security Audit conducted last year, and that this was an exercise where Nigeria was one of the first countries in the world to go through the Universal Security Audit Programme (USAP) Continuous Monitoring Approach (CMA).
Muhtar further explained that the ultimate goal of USOAP is to promote global aviation safety through regular audits of safety oversight systems in all ICAO Member states.
According to him, USOAP Audits, are usually focused on a state’s capability to provide a robust safety oversight system.
ICAO does this by assessing whether the state has effectively and consistently implemented the critical elements of a safety oversight system.
In addition, Muhtar stated that it was aimed at determining the state’s level of implementation of ICAO’s safety-related Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) with associated procedures and guidance material.
Also the DG said that the programme was expanded in 2005 to the USOAP Comprehensive Systems Approach (CSA) to include safety-related provisions contained in all safety Annexes to the Chicago Convention, adding that the USOAP CSA cycle which ended in December 2010 entailed about 40 safety oversight audits annually, with each ICAO member state to host an audit at least once during the cycle.
Team Leader of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP), Mr. Jean Claude Waffo in his remarks said that the current audit starting today is meant to access the state’s capabilities to oversee regulations as well as ensure compliance.
Waffo emphasized that the audit was not about regulating the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) or the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) but meant to carry out monitoring of what was done in 2006 and ensure that the country still meets its standard.
“We are going to refresh the data we have at the headquarters, we are assessing the capacity of the State to regulation the sector in compliance with ICAO, all the possible evidence and additional questions on site will be assessed.
“We are on continuous monitoring approach where we monitor the State based on the information they provide, if we have a finding during this exercise, we will continue to monitor it for the adjustment and classification of Nigeria”, he said.