We are completely rebuilding Enugu International Airport — CAPT. YADUDU, FAAN MD
I was the Director of Airport Operations for more than two years before I was appointed MD. So, most of the issues that are on ground are familiar to me. I have a lot of prior experience in different areas of aviation. I am an aircraft engineer, electrical and electronics, I still have the certification. I have been a chief pilot and a captain for over 20 years and I have operated Boeing 747 aircraft. I also have a lot of experience in airport management and development.
Having become the MD of FAAN, I have no reason not perform to expectations. I am working very hard to see that we succeed. Aviation is for everyone, and we are collaborating with our stakeholders to gauge what we are doing, which we use as our feedback to fine-tune our operations. We have started bi-monthly meetings with Aircraft Owners Association of Nigeria. We meet in our boardroom here and in Abuja. They drew up about 21 items for us to work on to improve the industry. When they submitted this list to me, I added seven more items, all to help us to keep improving. The second issue concerns our internal operations. I made it clear to our staff that they can send direct messages to the MD through Whatsapp and dedicated numbers to enable me have valuable information about things happening in the system and how to fix them. Thirdly, we do know we have a lot of infrastructure and equipment all around Nigeria. It is clear to us that a lot of our equipment and infrastructure are dilapidated, and we have been working to resolve all issues, from the smallest to the biggest. An Example is Enugu Airport
It had been bad for about six years. We decided to do the right thing. So we said, in the interest of our security, safety and our reputation as a nation we have to close it, fix it and put it back into operation. So we have closed it. We have started work to fix it. I am assuring everyone that when we reopen the Enugu International Airport, it will look like a new one. We are fixing the runway, drainage system, medical facility, security, even the staff quarters. We are hoping that when we resume operations, there it will become a 24-hour airport. Currently, it is from sunrise to sunset. From that, we are coming down to the basic issues of maintenance of our system and equipment. The most important people in this area is the personnel, our staff. These are the people that bring about achievement. No equipment or infrastructure can perform on its own. It is the personnel that will have to deliver, and so we are working in that area to make sure that our staff is fully and competently trained, with instructors from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and some from within. We are getting a lot of support from the National Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to train our people and also get some of our best materials to develop them to become our instructors, which is like an advanced kind of capacity building. This will ensure that whatever we do with our facilities and equipment will be in good hands who have been properly trained. Aviation is a heavily-regulated industry and so whatever we are doing we ensure we are not merely fully in in compliance but also above performance thresholds. Once you are in compliance you are assured of adequate safety and security, and we are striving to ensure that we achieve compliance that is above the basic threshold. Not only Nigeria but even neighbouring countries will be able to benefit in term of what we are doing in training our people. Organisations like ICAO are using highly-skilled individuals from other countries to train people all over the world including Nigeria, so we are also striving to make sure that Nigerians are capable of doing that very soon. I am very happy you made comments about the Enugu International Airport because it is something that is close to most people that are from that part of the country. What exactly is the state of the work right now, and are we likely to meet the April 2020 deadline for its reopening? Work at the Enugu Airport is ongoing. We go there for inspection and we are working with the Enugu State Government; they are fully in the picture. The South East Governors Forum has met with the Hon. Minister of Aviation more than twice in Enugu. We are working with a particular interest group led by a very distinguished gentleman, Engineer Chris Okoye and approved and endorsed by the south governors. This is a professional job and we try not to put anything out to the public that will cause distraction. The fact remains that we are all Nigerians. Therefore, we are committed to that project. We are doing much more than the runway. Americans say “you have not seen anything yet”. There is this suspicion that there is a plan. What can we plan that is underhand about closing an airport with a bad runway? Our own brothers and sisters are there. Foreigners go in and go out. If we didn’t want to do it why did we close it? And when it does get finished I am assuring you it will be worth the while. It is also good for our own name as Nigerians that we are able to do the right thing. About the April deadline, I have made it clear to stakeholders that delivery is important, but quality delivery is more important. If I have to keep it closed till June for a good reason I will close it till June. I closed it for safety and security, and I will keep it closed until I can assure safety and security. We are committed to April 2020 but if a force majeure intervenes (like in the case of Port Harcourt Airport that had to be closed for two years), what can one do? We are working towards end of March 2020.
