Usman Takes Over as DG, NCAA


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After many weeks of speculation, Capt Muhtar Usman has finally assumed office as Director General/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
During the handover ceremony on Friday at the Authority’s headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the new Director General said his administration would focus on safety, security and comfort in the conduct of flight operations in and out of Nigerian airspace in line with the transformation agenda of  President Goodluck Jonathan.
In achieving this, he said he would be guided by Annexes of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (NCARs) and other appropriate legislations and conventions in line with international standard.
Usman at the handover ceremony commended the management and staff of the Authority for the hard work he said must have been put in for the retention of the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) Category One, which qualifies Nigerian registered aircraft to fly directly to the United States.
He accordingly solicited for the support and cooperation of all the members of the Authority for the achievement of the three point agenda.
Earlier, the former Acting Director General and Director Airworthiness Standards (DAWS) Benedict Adeyileka introduced the management staff present and handed over  prepared notes detailing the activities of the Authority to the new DG.
He explained that the handover notes listed all the Directorates and their activities, various committees that had been raised and their job functions, Operating Airlines and their major routes, list of Airline Operating Certificate (AOC) holders, list of AOCs issued within his acting period.
The handover notes also contained a brief on the Authority’s preparation ahead of the upcoming ICAO audit to which there was no date yet. The good news, he said was that NCAA was in full compliance in all ICAO critical elements, except in two areas that he said we would need to be buckled up.
Adeyileka  also touched on all the challenges confronting the Authority in areas of being able to retain skilled and qualified staff in sufficient numbers, indebtedness to the Authority by Airlines, shortage of accommodation for staff, Shortage of funds for training and the on-going efforts to review the subsisting Service Charge.
Apart from pledging his readiness to shed more light as may be required on all issues, the Director of Airworthiness however pledged the loyalty and support by all staff of the Authority and wished him a successful tenure.
Captain Usman's aviation career dates back to 1981 at the College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria in Kaduna State, where as a flying instructor, he was involved in the  training of student pilots from basics to attain commercial pilot license, multi-engine and instrument ratings.
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