The team of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Auditors has revealed that Nigeria performed excellently in the 9 – day audit conducted on the nation’s aviation security system.
Fan Ndubuoke, general manager, Public Affairs at NCAA, in a press statement, said that this was made known by the team leader Steven Neu who was very impressed with the National Security Programme as there were very minimal open items to be closed.
Neu said, “Nigeria surpassed our expectations. We reviewed the 2008 audit before we commenced this exercise but we discovered there have been massive improvements in the security systems at the airports.’’
“To Nigeria’s credit all the minimal open items were closed immediately. The audit was focussed on the eight critical elements.
The Team Leader said Nigeria is one of the first countries in the world to go through the USAP Continuous Monitoring Assessment (CMA) Audit.
He heaped praises on all the security agencies at the airports – the aviation security, Nigerian police airport command, DSS, Port Health Services, Air Force, Nigerian Drug Law enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Quarantine services.
He said now that the USAP CMA activity has been completed draft findings and recommendations will be provided to the Regulatory Authority.
After 60 days ICAO will forward the USAP CMA audit report to Nigeria. In 30 days, Nigeria will submit its comments on the audit report if any.
Within another 30 days, the country will submit to ICAO its Corrective Action Plan (CAP).
Captain Muhtar Usman, director general, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA), thanked the ICAO Auditors for a very thorough and transparent audit.
He expressed joy that Nigeria’s performance was higher than the preceding audit in 2008.Usman assured ICAO that Nigeria will not rest on her oars but will continue to ensure that our air transport operation is secure and safe.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, (NCAA), will soon commence preparation for the ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) coming up in November, later this year.
While the USAP takes cognisance of states’ security at the airports, the ultimate goal of USOAP is promoting global aviation safety through regular audits of safety oversight systems in all ICAO member states.