The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Musa Nuhu, has said the agency is unable to engage experienced professionals for effective industry oversight due to the subpar pay structure.
This was as Nuhu revealed that efforts are underway to have the organization removed from the public sector.
He announced this at the closing ceremony of the International Civil Aviation Organisation Air Services Negation Event, in Abuja.
According to Nuhu, this had become necessary because staff of the agency were supposed to be earning at least the same or even better than the people they were overseeing, adding that NCAA being a public sector organisation was therefore under the public service rules.
He, however, noted that the NCAA has been in communication with the Ministry of Aviation and the Nation Assembly to facilitate the process even though he said it was very long a process.
Furthermore, he revealed that NCAA is speaking with relevant industry experts to seek advice and experience in order to attract young people in the right number and quality to significantly impact the aviation industry.
Speaking on how the agency could help improve the numeration for their staff, Nuhu said: “That’s a very important issue the industry has raised; they are the ones that suffer the most when we do not have adequate staff to cater for the services they require from us.
“Several ICAO documents recommendations reveal that inspectorate division, inspectors and all those serving the industry are supposed to earn at least the same with the people they are overseeing but the NCAA being a public sector organisation is under the civil service rules.
“We are communicating with the relevant authorities, the Ministry of Aviation and National Assembly so that we can see how NCAA can be removed from the public service sector.
“It’s a long process but we are speaking to industry experts to seek their experience and advice so that we can attract younger people in the right number and the best quality so that our services to the industry will significantly improve.
“Right now, we have suffered; I can give you an example of a very good experience.
“As a flight operation inspector, you need a very experienced captain to work with, nobody will leave an island to come work for the NCAA and earn 20% of the salary they earn as an airline pilot,” Nuhu said.
