The Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Chris Najomo, has said Nigeria is intensifying efforts to strengthen aviation safety oversight as the International Civil Aviation Organisation Coordinated Validation Mission begins in the country.

Speaking on Wednesday during the welcome ceremony for the ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission team in Abuja, Najomo described the exercise as a key step in Nigeria’s pursuit of global excellence in aviation safety oversight.

“This mission represents a critical milestone in our journey towards attaining global excellence in aviation safety oversight. As a follow-up to the ICAO USOAP-CMA audit conducted from August to September 2023, in which Nigeria recorded an Effective Implementation score of 70.12 per cent, we have remained resolute and steadfast in our commitment to improving our safety oversight capabilities,” he said.

According to him, the authority carefully reviewed the audit findings and implemented measures to address the gaps identified. “We took the audit findings in good faith and with the utmost seriousness that they deserved by conducting root cause analysis and promptly developing comprehensive Corrective Action Plans to address identified deficiencies. I am pleased to note that these CAPs were subsequently validated by ICAO, providing us with a clear roadmap for implementation,” he stated.

Najomo noted that the implementation of the corrective actions was carried out alongside the agency’s regular safety oversight responsibilities. “The implementation of these corrective actions, alongside our traditional safety oversight responsibilities, included but are not limited to the following: We actualised the deployment of EMPIC as the regulatory software for the authority, specifically in the automation of personnel licensing and aeromedical processes. The authority’s agreement with EMPIC will initially address four modules, and full operationalisation is scheduled for May 2026,” he said.

He added, “Nigeria had, within this period, entered into an agreement with NorthWest Data Solution for the deployment of the SMS Pro software as the digital system to entrench the centralisation and digitalisation of our safety data reporting and management system, ensuring compliance with ICAO Annex 19 requirements on a Safety Data Collection and Processing System.”

On capacity building, the NCAA boss said inspectors had undergone specialised training abroad to strengthen oversight capacity. “In fulfilling our responsibility under ICAO Critical Element 4 on qualified technical personnel, more than one hundred flight operations and airworthiness inspectors underwent training on special authorisation procedures at an EASA-approved training institution in Comiso, Italy, and another training organisation in Dubai, UAE.

“In furtherance of this, some inspectors are currently undergoing on-the-job training, coordinated under an MoU with the Rwandan Civil Aviation Authority to qualify these inspectors on specialised authorisations.”

Najomo further stated that Nigeria had strengthened regional collaboration to enhance air traffic management. “Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the surrounding Flight Information Regions for ensuring safe, orderly, and efficient air traffic flow across boundaries,” he said.

He thanked the ICAO mission team and assured them of Nigeria’s readiness for the validation exercise.

“We enthusiastically look forward to the mission, your debrief, and the final report. I want to further assure you that Nigeria has put in the work and will, during this mission, present this evidence for your validation. I wish you a very productive mission.”

According to earlier reports, the audit reviewed several critical elements of aviation safety oversight, including legislation, organisation, personnel licensing, airworthiness, aerodrome operations, and accident investigation. Nigeria recorded strong performances in areas such as legislation and airworthiness, but lower scores were noted in air navigation services and aerodrome operations.

Industry stakeholders had noted at the time that the audit outcome provided an opportunity for the country to address identified gaps through corrective action plans and strengthen regulatory oversight across the aviation sector.

The ongoing ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission is expected to assess Nigeria’s implementation of those corrective measures and determine improvements made since the 2023 audit.