Yemisi Izuora
The Director General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt Muhtar Usman, has said that the country’s aviation industry will go through the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Security Audit in June, 2015 and the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) will come in November later in the year.
Usman said this recently while speaking at the interactive session with the members of the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents at NCAA Annex Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
He said that the ICAO safety audit is a regular and systematic process, adding that Nigeria’s aviation has gone through the audit before and passed and that NCAA and other relevant agencies will not rest on its oars toward ensure a successful audit by the international body, adding that the last USOAP was in 2006 and that the next exercise will be coming later in the year.
According to him, “The ICAO/ USOAP was established in accordance with strategic objective A3 to “conduct aviation safety oversight audits to identify deficiencies and encourage their resolutions by contracting states. The programme is managed by ICAO Safety Audit Oversight Section”.
He explained that the objective of USOAP is to promote global aviation safety and that ICAO does this by auditing the contracting states on a regular basis.
He said, the audit, is to determine the states’ capability for safety oversight.
ICAO, he said assesses the effectiveness of implementation of the critical elements of a safety oversight system and the status of States’ implementation of safety related ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs).
Capt Usman listed other recommended practices to include; associated procedures, guidance materials and safety related practices.
ICAO/ USOAP, the NCAA Director General, said was launched in January 1999 in response to widespread concerns expressed during the 29th ICAO Assembly in 1992, adding that at that session a concern was raised on the apparent inability of some contracting states to carry out their safety oversight functions.
He explained that ICAO Assembly resolution A32-11 of 1999 directed the establishment of USOAP comprising regular, mandatory, systematic and harmonised safety audits, stressing that contracting states were asked to encourage its application with greater transparency and increased accessibility of audit results.