Ime Akpan
The former managing director, Mr. Saleh Dunoma, on Thursday officially handed over to his successor, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu.
Speaking at a brief ceremony held at FAAN headquarters in Lagos, Dunoma urged the agency’s staff to imbibe the twin culture of respect and discipline to attain increased professionalism and growth.
In a statement by the spokeswoman for the agency, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, the erstwhile FAAN managing director thanked the staff for their support throughout his tenure.
She quotes Dunoma as saying that he started with the agency when it was called the Nigerian Airports Authority (NAA) and rose through the ranks.
“I served in various cadres. I want to say thank you to all of you, even those that are not here for supporting me in my career, throughout my stay here from NAA days to being managing director,” he said.
In his remarks, Yadudu commended his predecessor describing him as a “thorough leader whose wealth of experience can and will still be tapped into.”
“As long as you remain here, your experiences are still key. We are still going to maintain some communication on issues that concern consultations, recommendations and so on because if you want to succeed, it is not only about the people that are with us now, some are retired, some others are outside the country.
“Now, we are fortunate to still have him with us and he is still very much around. I assure you on a personal level I will maintain contact with him regularly. For me, I have been here two years and in that time I have seen the leadership qualities; he is very supportive and very reliable and I saw all these during the certification process,” he said.
Yadudu also said the aviation industry is dynamic in terms of processes and technology stressing that the airport service must follow suit.
“The industry is moving, new technology, new processes and its either you are going forward or you are moving back. So, we have to keep improving services, improving on our processes and procedures.
“Primarily, I need to say in the next few months, we are going to concentrate on improving ourselves and I think the best way we are going to improve the agency is to discipline ourselves. We must sustain a high level of discipline year-in, year- out as it allows you to perform to the best of your ability.
“Secondly, respect. We must maintain a high standard of personal discipline in the discharge of our professional responsibilities,” he added.
