…Appoints Oyeyemi as new Corps Marshal, Abubakar as National Planning Minister
It was a day of excitement reigned in Nigeria’s aviation industry as President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday swore in Mr. Osita Chidoka as new Minister for Aviation.
Chidoka, until his appointment was the Corps Marshal/Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
He takes over from Ms. Stella Oduah, the erstwhile minister who was relieved of her appointment about five months ago, a period seen as too long to run a ministry without a substantive minister and for which many analysts and industry workers noted had created stagnation in the industry.
Meanwhile, the new Minister of National Planning and Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission is Dr. Suleman Abubakar, a former lecturer at the University of Abuja, while Deputy Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi is new Corp Marshal of FRSC.
Jonathan stated that the new ministers were being brought in at injury time to bring their experience to bear in the implementation of the transformation agenda.
The appointment of Chidoka as Aviation Minister, though overwhelmingly greeted with applause given the lull of over 5 months andthe need to speed up many projects, was not without some criticisms. While some industry stakeholders lauded his appointment as timely given his background on safety as a corps marshal, a key requisite in the smooth operation of the aviation industry, others however, condemned the continuous appointment of non-professionals to run the ministry.
Captain Nogie Meggison, Chairman of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), who advocated the appointment of a professional as Aviation minister hinged his stance on the ground that though the immediate past minister, Princess Oduah, attracted robust funding into the sector to boost infrastructure, her limited knowledge of aviation sector led to some of the unpopular policy decisions she made.
Megison said the aviation industry should not be made a learning centre for any minister, hence his insistence on the appointment of a professional as aviation minister.
“It is only an aviation professional that will understand the problems of the sector, not a politician,” said Megison.
The new minister, however, will be inheriting an industry ridden with crisis ranging from a debt profile estimated at over N174 billion, that has stalled many ongoing projects, the absence of a national carrier that has thrown up so many foreign airlines taking full advantage of the nation’s bilateral air service agreements without any reciprocity. Other constraints include the dearth of a viable domestic airline industry, poor staff welfare and paucity of funds to carry out mandatory staff training.
However, one of the key mandates that stakeholders expect to see Chidoka handle with dispatch is the controversial concessions of aviation facilities to pave way for private, public partnership, which is the next step for the continued development and maintenance of airport infrastructure and the realisation of the aerotropolis project, which is contained in the Aviation Master Plan.
THE SUN
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