President Buhari/ Aviation Minister
Yemisi Izuora
President Muhammadu Buhari today approved the appointment of Professor Bako Mansur Matazu as the new Director-General of the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET). He replaces Professor Sani Abubakar Mashi.
Prof. Matazu holds a PhD in Geography (Applied Meteorology), with membership of the Nigerian Environmental Society, African Forestry Forum, Nigerian Meteorological Society, the Climate Change Network, Nigeria and the renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Nigeria (REEN).
He was, until his appointment, the General Manager, Meteorological Research in NIMET.
Also approved by the President is the appointment of Captain Modibbo Alkali Mahmud as the new Rector of the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, (NCAT) Zaria.
The new Rector holds the Airline Transport Pilot Licenses of the Federal Aviation Administration, USA, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Embraer, Citation and other international professional certifications.
Until his appointment, Captain Mahmud had served in various capacities, including Pilot in Training, Fleet Captain at Dornier Aviation Nigeria, Max Air and other organisations and has clocked about 6000 hours of flying career
In line with the administration’s commitment to the implementation of the Aviation Development Roadmap, President Mohammadu Buhari has approved some reorganizations within the Agencies under the Ministry of Aviation.
In a related development, the President has also approved the reappointment of Engr. Akin Olateru as the Commissioner / Chief Executive Officer of the Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria.
Appointed first as commissioner and chief executive officer of AIB in January 2017, Olateru has put AIB on a higher pedestal by calling for the accident reports that had gathered dust in the shelves.
Having cleared the old table, he set a new template for the agency to make it “more committed to swift response to incident and accident notifications through our well equipped command and control centre.”
On assumption of office, Olateru said his vision was to make AIB the biggest in the nation’s aviation industry and enjoined the staff to ‘let bygones be bygones’ for “this is a new dawn” where the “drive for excellence, investment in personnel development and welfare would continue to be a priority,” and in the end “we are all going to be happy because everyone will go on training and more opportunities would be given to people.”
He believes that “building institutions is not just about buying equipment, throwing money at people; it is about giving them the right exposure, which goes a long way.”
Olateru in An Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with Nigerian, UK and USA licenses, Olateru began his career in engineering maintenance with Pan African Airlines and the Nigerian Police Air Wing after which he left Nigeria for further studies abroad.
He has also worked with multiple airlines in Europe including KLM, Martin Air in Holland, British Aerospace Engineering and British Midland Airways.
He attended City University, London and graduated with an M.Sc. in Air Transport Management with specializations in research and simulations into accident investigations.
A statement from the Director of Media, Ministry of Aviation, Dr. James Odaudu noted that the re-organisation is a continuous exercise that will involve other management staff of all agencies of the Ministry.