By Demola Akinyemi, Ilorin

The Acting Director -General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Captain Chris.O. Najomo has said that about 45,000 high structures all over the country have been granted aviation height clearance certificates in order to ensure safety of air travels in Nigeria.

Najomo who was represented by Director, Aerodome & Airspace Standards, Engr Balang Godwin at the workshop on Aviation Height Clearance (AHC), in Ilorin sponsored by NCAA said that “regulatory control of high structures within the navigable airspace of Nigeria is important to the safety of air travel in our nation..”

He added that”Indiscriminate erections of high structures pose a significant risk to aircraft during take off, landing and manoeuvring ,hence the utmost importance of the Authority’s power,based on the provision of the Civil Aviation Act 2023 to regulate the phenomenon.

“Presently, about 45,000 high structures all over the country have been granted Aviation Height Clearance certificates by the authority.

A large number of these structures would have constituted obstructions to air navigation and made our aerodome unsafe and, in some cases, unsuitable for flight operations.”he further said.

Najomo expressed confidence that the workshop which represents a step forward in the right direction to further prepare the Inspectors for the task of ensuring safety in Nigeria airspace would not only be beneficial to the participants,but to the authority, aviation community and Nigeria as a whole.

In her address at the workshop,the MD/CEO Delara Aviation Training & Consulting Limited Mrs Shin -Aba Victoria who facilitated the workshop noted that,”the importance of ensuring safe and efficient air travel cannot be overstated, and obstacle control plays a vital role in achieving this goal.”

She assured that the,”facilitators are well experienced, and the program have been carefully designed to meet the highest standards and guarantee a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of issues about aviation height clearance.”

To the participants, she urged them to cooperate with the facilitators,”in order to achieve the goal of the workshop which is to ensure in Nigeria airspace safety.

The coordinator of the workshop, Dr Paul Ajakaye, in an interview with journalists, said ,”the main objective of the workshop is to enhance the competency of our inspectors.

“You’ll notice these days, the presence of masts, towers, and other kinds of high-rise structures that could constitute obstructions to air navigation if not properly evaluated and the risks mitigated in terms of markings, lightings and reduction of heights in some instances as demanded by the National Civil Aviation Regulations and related international civil aviation organisation (ICAO) documents.

” So we’re here to enhance the capacities of the Inspectors to deal with the challenges associated with erections of high structures all over the country.”

Ajakaiye also noted that,” the workshop would serve as a refresher training for some of the participants who are already Safety Inspectors as well as a formal training for the newly employed.The training will enable the younger officers to have their scope of authorisation on obstacle analysis.”

Regarding the participants, he said,” It is important to let them know that they are in an establishment that takes safety as a priority. Hence, youthful exhuberance are not allowed just as their attitude must tally with the objective of the organization by doing the right thing at the right time. We’ve laid emphasis on it, and we believe they’ll build on it.”

In his contribution, at the event, the Head of Aviation Height Clearance Unit in NCAA, Mr Rauf Adebayo Opeloyeru said about 150 Inspectors drawn from all over the NCAA regional offices in the country attended the workshop. He said that training is done at all times to ensure that NCAA is above board as the regulatory body for the aviation industry.

Opeloyeru noted that the consultant has assembled very competent facilitators and that the participants are so happy about the knowledge being received.
He posited that most of them have succeeded in increasing the horizon of their knowledge when it comes to aviation height clearance procedures.

“The expectation is that at the end of the workshop, the quality of their work will improve considerably.”he added.

He assured the air passengers,” that NCAA is always doing the best to make sure that their safety is guaranteed at all times.”