Ime Akpan
The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) has urged the federal government to actualise the realisation of second Abuja runway project, Nigeria Air and other laudable projects contained in the aviation roadmap document.
The president of NAAPE, Mr. Abednego Galadima made the plea in his keynote address at ‘Aviation Stakeholders Safety Workshop held in Lagos on Thursday.
Galadima who congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari on his victory at the February 23 presidential election said it was an opportunity for him to consolidate on the achievements recorded in his first tenure.
Thereafter, he said NAAPE had promoted safety in the aviation sector over the years through its “we do it right for safety” slogan.
He said the association had also ensured professionalism and professional excellence on the other hand, while promoting the safety of the aviation industry.
“This clearly demonstrates that safety is one of our topmost priorities. Furthermore, and in the furtherance of our efforts in promoting safety in the aviation industry, we recently, instituted the Annual Aviation Safety Award (AASA) for aviation organisations, both public and private, aimed at promoting and entrenching safety culture and rewarding safe practices,” he said.
He explained that the workshop was aimed at serving as a platform to identify safety concerns and greater promotion of safety in the industry.
“Safety according to ICAO Document (Doc 9859-3rd edition) is the state in which the possibility of harm to persons or of property damage is reduced to, and maintained at or below, an acceptable level through a continuing process of hazard identification and safety risk management.
“From the aforementioned definitions of safety, it is apparent that safety is not the absence of risk but a continued process of hazard identification, risk mitigation and management.
“The safety thinking evolved over the years, since 1950s where technical factors were the only consideration and later in the 1990s human factors gained prominence over technical factors,” said Galadima
In his goodwill message, the commissioner of Accident Investigation Bureau, Also, Mr. Akin Olateru said NAAPE’s importance and relevance in the aviation industry is noticeable.
Olateru, who was represented by a director in AIB, Mr. Mohammed Wali, said the association’s focus on the welfare of aircraft pilots and engineers promotes total safety in the aviation industry in Nigeria and the world.
“The safety levels that the global air transport enjoy today represents an achievement built on the determination and efforts of the entire aviation community,” he said.
Considering the level of commitments made by the current administration to ensure safe airspace for air transport users, the theme of this workshop; ‘Promoting Aviation Safety in Nigeria’ is relevant and appropriate.
“I, therefore, implore all pilots, engineers and stakeholders to note that safety is not a one-man business.
“We all need to play our part to ensure safer airspace for Nigeria that will be worthy of emulation by other countries across the globe,” he said.
