The senate yesterday passed a bill for the establishment of Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), a multi-modal accident investigation agency.
The legislation was passed about one month after the house of representatives endorsed the same bill.
Spokesman for the Accident Investigation Bureau Nigeria (AIB-N), Mr. Tunji Oketunbi said in a statement that when President Muhammadu Buhari assents to the bill, it will see to the transformation of the AIB-N into a multi-modal safety investigation agency adding rail and maritime to aircraft accident investigation.
He quoted the AIB-N commissioner and chief executive officer, Mr. Akin Olateru as saying: “It is with great pleasure that I send you all hearty congratulations and announce that our new bill before the national assembly has been passed by both the Senate and House of Representatives. We give all the glory to Almighty God. This is a bright new beginning for AIB.”
“The establishment of the NSIB will put Nigeria at the top in Africa as regards transportation accident investigation with the country becoming the first to have such agency in the continent and it is happening under the visionary guidance and leadership of the minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika.”
Olateru expressed appreciation to Sirika for his support adding “this is a reward of the diligence and commitment of the staff of the agency who have been working tirelessly for the success of the exercise.
“I wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the honourable minister of aviation and you all, my wonderful dedicated AIB team. Thank you for your patience, hard work, perseverance and dedication to this cause.
“Thank you for revising, reviewing, editing and committing tirelessly to getting the bill prepared. Our efforts have been justly rewarded with success, and I appreciate each and every one of you.”
Olateru further said the establishment of the NSIB is a good development and will be of immense benefit to all Nigerians as it would provide adequate legal and institutional framework for the regulation and administration of safety transportation occurrences in Nigeria.
“The NSIB would reinforce safety in all modes of transportation in Nigeria through distinctive, efficient and effective investigations of accidents and serious incidents involving any of the modes of transportation within Nigeria or anywhere else Nigeria’s interest is affected.
“The NSIB will determine the probable causes of accidents and serious incident occurrences in transportation and publish safety recommendations to operators, regulators and others, which would help prevent the recurring of similar occurrences, therefore, improving safety of transportation in Nigeria,” he added.
Reacting to the news of the passage of the bill, the commissioner of Banjul Accord Group Accident Investigation Agency (BAGAIA), Mr. Charles Erhue said “it is a “great feat to the AIB-N family and to the Banjul Accord Group (BAG) region.
I wish to congratulate the…Commissioner and entire AIB management team with the support of every staff who has committed time and resources in one way or the other to make this a huge success.”
Enlarging the operations of AIB into a multimodal agency was one of Olateru’s cardinal programmes when he assumed office as the fourth commissioner/CEO of AIB-N in 2017.
The initiative got federal executive council approval and passed through the ministry of justice before landing at the national assembly. The national assembly conducted open hearings where all stakeholders made their inputs.
AIB-N through its rigorous investigations, reports and safety recommendations has greatly improved the safety of air travel in the country, with the industry recording only one fatal occurrence since 2015.
Besides transforming AIB-N into a formidable and respected agency globally, this is one of the indelible marks Olateru will be leaving behind as the chief executive of the agency he took from relative obscurity to a key player in the global aviation industry.
