Federal Government has moved to strengthen collaboration between Nigeria’s civil and military aviation authorities following Nigerian Air Force, NAF, aircraft crash at Igbokoda, Ondo State.
Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, agreed to deepen cooperation in aviation safety, airworthiness, certification, training and capacity building.
Agreement was reached on Wednesday when Keyamo paid condolence visit to Chief of Air Staff following tragic incident involving NAF ATR-42 aircraft in Igbokoda.
After signing condolence register, minister held private meeting with Aneke before both leaders addressed journalists on plans to strengthen ties between civil and military aviation sectors.
Keyamo described crash as national tragedy and commended sacrifices of Nigerian Air Force personnel.
“We value the Air Force. We value efforts of gallant men and women of Air Force and what they do for country,” he said.
Minister said incident had reinforced need to close gap between civil and military aviation, noting that accidents in either sector affect Nigerians regardless of whether aircraft involved is military or civilian.
“It is one country, one people. When disaster happens, it affects everybody. There were civilians in that air crash and when there’s an air crash in civil aviation too, there can be military personnel. And so, it is important that we cooperate in area of safety,” Keyamo said.
He noted that NAF already relies on civil aviation infrastructure, particularly air traffic control, but said relationship should be expanded into structured partnership covering other areas of aviation safety.
According to him, he had contacted Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, and facilitated direct communication between NCAA leadership and Chief of Air Staff.
“We have decided that we will cooperate in terms of capacity building,” he said.
Keyamo said joint committee involving NCAA and NAF would be established to coordinate collaboration on airworthiness, certification, training and other safety-related matters, while respecting statutory responsibilities of both institutions.
He also offered NAF personnel access to relevant training programmes undertaken by civil aviation authorities.
“There is no reason why we cannot take some names from Air Force. We have a lot of training we go for, so there is no reason why we cannot,” minister said.
Keyamo also acknowledged specialised expertise within Air Force that could benefit civil aviation sector, describing proposed cooperation as two-way exchange of knowledge and experience.
“This is kind of cross-pollination and symbiotic relationship we have decided to build for safety of lives of Nigerians,” he said.
Responding, Air Marshal Aneke thanked minister for condolence visit and his support for Nigerian Air Force.
He said initiative reflected strong relationship between civil and military aviation sectors and disclosed that discussions had already begun on framework for greater technical cooperation.
Under proposed arrangement, civil aviation personnel would contribute to Air Force’s safety environment, particularly in airworthiness and certification, while NAF personnel would provide specialised expertise to civil aviation sector where necessary.
“We have both agreed that we need to move aviation industry, whether military or civil, to higher level,” Aneke said.
Chief of Air Staff welcomed offer of training opportunities for Air Force personnel, saying initiative would improve capacity and strengthen aviation safety.
He stressed that both institutions ultimately have same responsibility to protect Nigerian lives.
“We are serving same government; we are protecting same Nigerians. So we are just a blend of each other,” he said.
Proposed partnership is expected to enhance information sharing, technical cooperation, professional training and safety coordination between Nigeria’s civil and military aviation authorities.
