Guardian

JUST last week, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) celebrated and beat its chest for providing, ‘makeshift’ runway lightings for the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos runway 18/Left.

In a country not lacking in resources, the provision of ‘emergency’ lightings, experts say should not call for celebration, stressing that it is embarrassing for Nigeria to celebrate mediocrity when in actual fact the country can acquire standard airfield lightings to avoid catastrophe for passengers, aircraft and airport users during flight operations.

According to the agency, “what looks like a Christmas gift to the airlines, travellers and Nigerians in general, was made possible by the full co-operation of the Federal Government in ensuring speedy customs clearance and the foresight of the aviation minister, who has not relented in ensuring quality service delivery at the nation’s airports.

“In all, 66 CALKIT brand of emergency airfield and additional two approach lights were deployed by six NAMA engineers working through Monday night and rounded up early Tuesday morning.

Expert lambasted the agency for describing safety critical equipment as, “A Christmas gift,” wondering why the agency lacks the initiative to provide a permanent solution to the deficiency.

For five years, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had looked away, pretending that all was well. Just last year, the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi transferred airfield lighting functions, navigational aid calibrating aircraft and wildlife control to NAMA.

The agency only inherited these additional functions from the FAAN and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency (NCAA) early last year and has found it extremely cumbersome to tackle these other additional job apart from its statutory function of air traffic management and communication.

Failure of the agency to install airfield lighting on the runway 1/8 Left of the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, over five years ago, may have cost domestic airlines a fortune as they lose billions of naira to this situation which is also inimical to safety.

Domestic airlines, which are still trying to grapple with the meager operating funds are at the mercy of NAMA, economically, for jettisoning its responsibility to the airlines.

Imagine an aircraft coming to land on that runway on emergency, is NAMA prepared for that emergency? The danger is high,” Dele Ore, president of Aviation Round Table, said, while appraising the industry’s situation after the Dana crash recently.

In short, the emergency lightings according to many are as good as not having lightings on the runway.

Other Nigerian airports also lack adequate lighting, which poses a huge threat to safety, as aircraft cannot land or take off on them especially, when there are emergencies.

Secretary General of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Muhammed Tukur described the situation as “unfortunate,’ noting that emergency airfield lightings are only needed for some airports that are not busy which he said can be deployed only during emergency situations.

He said what a busy airport like the Murtala Muhammed Airport needs is a permanent, standard runway lighting system.

His words, “these people should change their way of thinking. We are in a new year and it should not be business as usual. Aviation is global and we should not behave as if we have our own different aviation. We do not need makeshift airfield lighting but one that is very efficient and permanent. We are talking about safety here.”

Chairman, Ministerial Committee on Aviation sector, Group Captain John Obakpolor (rtd), had last year before the airfield lighting function was transferred to NAMA, described the issue of lack of lighting as a dangerous trend “because an aircraft that has a problem may be coming in to land at the airport only to discover that it does not have airfield lighting and that can be dangerous.

Obakpolor also wondered why contract was awarded “for the renovation of a runway when you know that the first thing the contractor will do before he lays asphalt is to excavate, scrape and in doing that he is pulling the cables. So why didn’t they award the contract together?”

Speaking in the same vein, former Commandant, Murtala Muhammed Airport, Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd) said he was surprised that people are talking about that runway now. This happened about six years ago.

“Some of us have been talking about it. After Dana crash, I mentioned it. I saw the minister and Dr. Demuren in Abuja, I mentioned it to them. I told them that peoples’ lives are in danger, because the luck we had was that the Dana crash did not happen inside the airport. If it had crashed on runway 18R, that would have closed the single runway.”

“What Captain Ikponwosa said about the danger on that runway was the truth but they try to hide from it. You want to taxi from the domestic wing to international wing, you are taxiing on runway that has no light, you are taxiing on the taxiway that has no light, operational vehicles are coming from MMA2 to the international wing, most of them without radio.

“When that aircraft is taxiing from the domestic wing to international runway on the maneuvering that has no light and a vehicle and aircraft are coming and the two of them start struggling on the taxiway, because the air traffic controller does not see what goes on there.”

“He can only tell me he knows what goes on there if he tells me he has already acquired aerodrome surveillance radar that will look at every movement on the ground and we don’t have.

“Those are the areas that they should be looking into instead of terminal building, instead of national carrier and I have asked them, you bring these aircraft into which airspace? You want to bring them inside this airspace that we have not addressed? Apart from Abuja taxiway and runway, quote me, there is no airport in this country that has a complete composite of landing light, taxiway and approach light.”

He explained that the pilots operate their aircraft because they are familiar with the environment that they are going, “they know that there is no runway light. There is something that should lead you to runway light. Communication is basic thing they should provide. These are things of 1970s’ that we should have had. Let us not even talk about the new technology that is in town.”