The Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, said the Federal Government has intensified efforts on the rehabilitation and replacement of obsolete infrastructure in the nation’s aviation sector.

This, according to her, is to enable the country achieve full implementation of the International Civil aviation Organisation’s Standards and Recommended Practices in various areas of air transportation.

Mrs. Njeze, who spoke on the state of the air transport industry in Nigeria at an aviation conference, tagged “Vision 20:20 – Safe skies for Africa,” organised by the International Air Transport Association, IATA, in Lagos, noted that the government had already concluded some of the projects, while some others were ongoing.

The minister, who was represented by the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Richard Aisuebeogun, disclosed that FAAN was currently replacing some of the old control towers which could not accommodate the new safe tower equipment provided by  Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, and other temporary towers that had outlived their usefulness and were long overdue for replacement.

Mrs. Njeze revealed that the airports to benefit from the first phase of the programme include the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, which is about 80 per cent completed, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Ilorin, Ibadan, Akure and Benin airports.