‘ICAO 40th Assembly Country Statement By Nigeria’s Minister Of Aviation’
COUNTRY STATEMENT BY SENATOR HADI SIRIKA, THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF AVIATION, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA DURING THE 40TH ASSEMBLY OF THE INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION ORGANISATION (ICAO) MONTREAL, CANADA.
24TH SEPTEMBER TO 4TH OCTOBER 2019
The President of the ICAO Council
The Secretary General of ICAO
The President of the 40th Assembly
Distinguished Heads of Delegations and States delegates
Eminent Observers here present
Members of the Media
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a rare privilege to address this august assembly of managers of global civil aviation for the second time, having been privileged to do this at the 39th Assembly in 2016.
May I begin by sending very warm greetings and felicitations from President Muhammadu Buhari and the good people, of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I also will like to congratulate the President of the 40th Assembly, Mr Nari Williams Singh and other elected officials of the Assembly.
Distinguished delegates, as we reflect on the developments that have taken place and the achievements that we have recorded since the 39th Assembly, we should have greater resolve that through continuous cooperation and collaboration, we would find new and even better ways and strategies to improve civil aviation beyond the next tri-ennial, especially as ICAO celebrates its 75th anniversary. These new strategies should make air transportation more safe, secure, efficient and environmentally friendly, as well as ensure the growth and sustainability of the aviation industry globally.
Nigeria wish to commend the ICAO Council and the Secretariat for successfully organizing the Innovation Fair and the Fifth ICAO World Aviation Forum (IWAF/5), which focused on “innovation in Aviation”. We believe that successes in technological advancement should be complimented with the modernization of global regulatory frameworks through the liberalization of market access and convergence of regulatory approaches. This would maximize the socio-economic benefits of air transport and enhance the comfort and convenience of consumers of our services.
Nigeria has been a great supporter of liberalization and has continued to champion the liberalization efforts in Africa through the implementation of the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). I wish to call on ICAO to continue to encourage and support regional liberalization efforts of States, as they could be used as incentives to achieving global multilateral agreement on liberalization of market access.
I am happy to inform you that Nigeria’s efforts on liberalization has led to significant increase in the operations of foreign and domestic airlines and utilization of our airports, resulting in an annual traffic growth of over eight percent (8%). Today Aviation in Nigeria is the second fastest growing industry after water and sanitation. We recorded 12.6% growth this quarter. With 200M people and 923,766Km2 of land mass our resolve is to make Nigeria the hub of the West and Central African Sub-region, and make air travel the preferred mode of transportation.
We are fully aware that achieving these would require a robust industry that is safe, secure, efficient and environmentally friendly, with modern and adequate infrastructure.
In the area of Safety, Nigeria within the last three years, has continued to work towards sustaining the successes achieved in the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s International Aviation Safety Assessment Category 1 Rating, through the strengthening of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to keep regulating aviation safety without political interference.
Additionally, Nigeria has continued to collaborate with ICAO and the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC), to promote safety in our sub-region by actively supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive Regional Implementation Plan for Aviation Safety in Africa (AFI Plan) and the hosting and substantial funding of the Banjul Accord Group Aviation Safety Oversight Organization (BAGASOO), a regional safety organization, which has its headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital territory. I will like to use this opportunity, to thank Mr. Halidou Moussa, the coordinator of AFI Plan for his accomplishment in handling the AFI Plan project. Additionally, Nigerian meteorological agency provides technical support including capacity building as well as weather services to many countries in our continent.
With regard to aviation security, Nigeria has continued to record significant improvements in this area with the installation of modern security equipment at our airports, continuous implementation of our national aviation security programme and up-to-date training for Aviation Security Personnel.
I am happy to inform you that ICAO recently certified the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s training school, to train aviation security personnel. This facility will be available to train aviation security personnel both in Nigeria and in the West African Sub-region. It is also noteworthy to mention, that Nigeria has continued to participate in the ICAO Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD), and support ICAO’s efforts to provide assistance to other West African States in their programmes to introduce e-passport.
On the crucial matter of the environment, Nigeria wishes to acknowledge and thank ICAO for its leadership role and efforts in the last triennium to forge consensus on the critical issue of climate change; particularly the historic Resolution A39–3 on Global Market Base Measures (GMBM) to address CO2 emissions from international aviation, known as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
I am again delighted, to inform you that Nigeria has voluntary signed up for CORSIA and is a member of the ICAO CORSIA Technical Advisory Body (TAB), Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) as well as providing assistance on capacity building and training on CORSIA. We believe that ICAO should continue to be the forum through which all aviation technical issues relating to the environment must be resolved and therefore reaffirm that CORSIA should remain the only Global Market Base Measures for international aviation.
Distinguished delegates, apart from our efforts on safety, security and the environment, Nigeria has embarked on infrastructure resuscitation and has made substantial investments in the provision of modern landing and navigational equipment, upgrade and replacement of airports infrastructural facilities including runway reconstruction, airport perimeter fencing, firefighting and other rescue equipment, airfield lighting etc. Nigeria therefore remains a major provider of facilities for International Civil Aviation.
I am however convinced that continued cooperation and collaboration amongst Member States and ICAO will facilitate the achievement of aviation safety and security, as well as an environment friendly aviation industry, globally. In this vein, Nigeria has continued to host ICAO events, notably the symposium on Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), and the Third ICAO World Aviation Forum (IWAF/3) in 2017. The IWAF/3, which was the first IWAF event to be held outside the ICAO Headquarters, addressed the issue of Financing the development of Aviation infrastructure, and came up with a historic Declaration and Framework for Plan of Action for Aviation Infrastructure Development in Africa. Nigeria is currently liaising with ICAO, African Union, African Development Bank, AFCAC and our development partners to implement the Declaration.
Nigeria is actively participating and contributing to the work of virtually all panels under ICAO strategic objectives including the panels on Safety, Aviation Security and Facilitation, Economic Development of Air Transport and Environmental Protection. Distinguished delegates, as you are aware, Nigeria has been a member of the ICAO Council since 1962. We hold our membership of ICAO and its Council reverently and we therefore cherish the opportunity to work together with other member States in advancing the work of the Organization for greater efficiency and effectiveness, in line with ICAO’s strategic objectives.
In the same spirit, Nigeria would like to use this opportunity to solicit the support of ICAO member States for her re-election into Part 2 of the ICAO Council. In addition, Nigeria also requests your support for the election and re-election of those African States, which have been endorsed by the African Civil Aviation Commission, to the ICAO Council.
At this point, I must commend African States and the African Civil Aviation Commission for their renewed and vigorous commitment, to the development of Air Transportation in Africa, especially the establishment of a single African market in 2018 as part of the African Union Agenda 2063. This will not only enhance air connectivity in the continent, it will promote tourism, trade and economic development as well as contribute to the achievement of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Distinguished colleagues, of the International Civil Aviation Organization, On behalf of the Nigerian delegation, I congratulate the President of the ICAO Council, our own Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, the Secretary General of ICAO, Dr. Fang Liu and the entire ICAO Secretariat for an extremely well organized 40th Session of the ICAO Assembly. I also like to express my profound gratitude, to the government and people of Canada, for the kind hospitality accorded my delegation since our arrival in this beautiful city of Montreal.
Distinguished delegates, since assuming office in January 2014 as the President of the Council, Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, has shown exemplary leadership of the Council in providing the required direction for achieving the strategic objectives of ICAO. While I will not take your time in listing the commendable achievements of the Council under his watch, I can confidently say that ICAO has significantly improved in providing the required leadership in the development of safe, secure, efficient and environmental friendly air transport industry through, the “No Council Left Behind” initiatives for the effective implementation of the ICAO SARPs; the introduction of the ICAO World Aviation Forum (IWAF) to facilitate aviation development; the development of Global Security Plan; the enhancement of gender equality and youth programmes; the CORSIA and so on. Dr. Aliu, you have done well and I say a big thank you!
I wish us all a most successful deliberation. I thank you for your attention.
Senator Hadi Sirika
Honourable Minister
Federal Ministry of Aviation
Abuja, Nigeria.
24th September, 2019
