An Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) personnel with the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency(NAMA), Mr. James Olukayode Olalekan has commended the Managing Director of NAMA, Captain Fola Akinkuotu for the giant strides he has made in the area of AIS training in the agency.
Olalekan, an aspirant for the position of President in the forthcoming election of Aeronautical Information Management Association of Nigeria (AIMAN) gave the commendation during a chat with journalists to highlight some of his plans for the association.
“I want to use this opportunity to give kudos to the present management of NAMA. Prejudice apart, the present management of NAMA within a year the Managing Director assumed office, he has really proven himself to be a man that can be trusted”, Olalekan said.
He however, pointed out that aviation training is continuous and very necessary, meaning that those that have been trained in the past needs retraining as their equipment are changing on daily bases.
While advising for a succession plan so as to retain a viable workforce in the agency, Olalekan said “I will not say exactly that the manpower is enough, we still need more. At the same time, people that are on ground need to be trained for them to be able to take over from those that are retiring. Otherwise, by time they will retire, there will be a lot of vacuum and they will be under pressure for training. Like I said earlier on, training is capital intensive, so the money may not be there to train the required member as at that time, then there will be problem. Therefore, we strongly believe that we must work on our succession plan to be effective both in the area of manpower and training”.
He explained that the government needs to seamlessly migrate from AIS to AIM, as it will not only boost their work but will also boost Nigeria’s image in the aviation industry under ICAO project.
“This is because a country that is running from AIS to AIM will serve as a centre for most or the West African countries. Most of the data will be received with ease and effectively too in other countries. If it is done it will also bring more revenue for Nigeria which will also boost the economy generally. In the aspect of the personnel, it will make their jobs easier and more accurate. There are many ways of doing things with AIM”, he said.
On his plans for the association, Olalekan said “One of the areas I want to focus more is in the aspect of personal development. Sometimes, mindset can affect human performance. If one is given more recognition within three people, no matter the knowledge of the others, they must feel embarrassed. I will try as much as I can to bring AIS, if not equal to but at par with other professions. This is because in the ICAO standard, after the ATC, the next profession is AIS. As ATC is controlling the aircraft, it is the information being provide by AIS are being used by the ATC and even the pilot”.
“The mandatory accuracy of information given to AIS cannot be jeopardized. The person that provides such information should also be accurate in the mindset. The mind must be settled and the environment must be conducive. What I have in mind is to bring AIS personnel and profession to a level that will be, if not equal to others but to be at very close with other major aviation operators like as pilots. Pilots are professional in their level and basically we have been talking about license.”
On licensing, the AIS personnel added “our license is one of the keys that I know will encourage us more. ICAO is yet to come up with a clear terms of how our license can be produced. I believe we can link up with other countries that have succeeded in giving their AIS personnel license.
