The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo has described the 2023 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Universal Oversight Audit Program scored by Nigeria at 70 percent against the 75 percent benchmark set as unacceptable.
He, however, hinted that Nigeria must subsequently enforce proper Monitoring and Evaluation to maintain the set standards.
Keyamo made the disclosure at the 2023 Aviation Management retreat held in Warri, Delta State.
He reiterated that the aviation industry is key and central to the sustainable growth and development of all other sectors in the Nigerian economy.
Keyamo said: “This retreat is apt considering the fact that one of the major goals of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration is to position the Nigerian Aviation Industry as a Hub on the African continent and the world at large.
“It is his expectation that his 5- point priority Agenda would be disaggregated and cascaded into actionable program and projects by all department and agencies under the purview of the ministry.
“Our task in this Retreat is to brainstorm, deliberate and carry out a SWOT Analysis of the Aviation sector with a view to proffering practical solutions to attain the desired results. We need to be proactive and circumspect in our deliberations regarding where we are today s an industry, where we desire to be and most importantly, how to get there.”
The minister added that there was no doubt that growth and development in the Aviation sector should be private sector driven to attract foreign direct investment.
He said: “As policy makers, we have a responsibility to ensure that deployment of policies, programs and project are well articulated and in compliance with ICAO standard.”
