Yemisi Izuora
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Ibrahim Abdulsalam has called on workers in the organisation to adhere strictly to the tenets of the newly introduced Treasury Single Account (TSA) tax policy as well as other policy initiatives of the Federal Government.
These initiatives, he said were all targeted at repositioning the economy towards greatness.
Abdulsalam ,who made the remark at a one-day workshop for management staff of NAMA at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Training Centre,Lagos explained that TSA is a unified government accounting system which enables consolidation and optimal utilisation of revenue.
He added that in the light of dwindling oil fortunes, there was the need for stakeholders to support and encourage the reforms of the Federal Government both as individual and collectively to succeed.
These policy initiatives according to him would give the Nigerian economy and by extension the aviation sector the needed boost and turnaround in the long run.
He also charged participants to look inwards and device new frontiers where the agency could generate more revenue from non-aeronautical sources, just as he cautioned against waste and frivolous expenses.
According to him, The present economic realities have left us with no other option than to align ourselves with the policy direction of the Federal Government by prioritizing our expenditure and also blocking leakages.
Meanwhile, ahead of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit coming up in March 2016, NAMA is partnering with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other critical stakeholders responsible for managing aviation crisis.
These organisations includes: the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Nigerian Navy, local divers among others in a live aeronautic simulation of an air crash into the Atlantic Ocean at Oworoshoki Sand Beach in Lagos.
The simulation Code named “Ja’ Sokun,” the National Aeronautical Search and Rescue Exercise (NASAREX) focused on a disaster that could result from an air crash and create mass casualty incident, which requires a coordinated response from the critical stakeholders saddled with the responsibility of managing aviation crisis incidences in Search and Rescue and Epidemic Evacuation Plan (SAREEP)
The mock air crash search and rescue exercise, which was largely successful enabled stakeholders to assess their level of preparedness in emergency responses.
Speaking at the end of the exercise, the NEMA Director of Search and Rescue, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Charles Otegbade commended participants on the “combined effort in achieving an impressive outcome,” even as he assured that “all gaps recorded in the simulation exercise would be closed by the relevant stakeholders.”
Recalled that a similar Air Crash Simulation exercise was carried out last year on land in Abuja as an annual requirement from ICAO.