‘NAHCON usurping NCAA’s authority’

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An aviation expert and Secretary of Aviation Round Table (ART), Group Captain John Ojikutu has alleged that the Nigerian Hajj Commission, (NAHCON) is taking over the responsibilities of Ministry of Transport and Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on matters of civil aviation, Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) and Civil Aviation Commercial Agreements (CACA) by determining on which foreign airline to airlift Nigerian pilgrims this year.
The former Air Force Commandant of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos who expressed worries over the response of an earlier allegations hd raised against NAHCON of fleecing the Federal Government, aviation agencies and Nigerian pilgrims by choosing which airline to airlift Nigerian pilgrims for 2017 Hajj operaions noted that, the NAHCON’s revealed that it was usurping authority of the Ministry and NCAA on issues which are of their primary concerns.
“What am reading in the media about NAHCON reaction to my concern on its involvement in matters that are purely the responsibilities of the ministry and NCAA gives me a lot of worries, especially when these authorities are themselves not talking. Am worried about the involvement of NAHCON in matters of civil aviation bilateral agreements and civil aviation commercial agreements. NAHCON is talking as if it has assumed authority over these primary civil aviation authorities!! It is a shame,” Ojikutu alleged.
The Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Security added that if NCAA as the apex regulatory authority on aviation matters has sufficiently domesticated and not domiciliated international aviation standards and practices, which it is a signatory to, NAHCON would not have gotten the audacity to intervene on such matters.
“That is why it appears most often times to me that we have not been able to sufficiently domesticate the international standards and practices as designed for member States of international aviation organizations like International CivilAviation Organisation (ICAO) and International Air Transport Association (IATA). What we have mainly done so far with these standards and practices was to domicile them and not to domesticate them. I expect the NCAA and the ministry of aviation as the only civil authorities to talk on this matter to show transparency and not NAHCON,” he submitted.
It would bevrecalled that Ojikutu recently described as fraudulent, NAHCON’s declaration that the Saudi Arabian government wants over 100 countries participating in hajj to allocate 50% of their nationals (traffic) to one airline ‘Flynas’; describing the declaration as beyond belief and a way influential Nigerians are circumventing the system to deny genuine operators market share, just as he criticised the rationale behind handing foreign airlines multiple designation stating, that Nigeria has no clearly defined policy for growth of its airlines especially given certain exclusivity as it regards to hajj operations.
Reacting to a report credited to NAHCON that 45% of total pilgrims for hajj go to a Saudi airline, he described it as a total rip off and called on government to query the Saudi authorities over the move.
His message read,” Which existing law allows only Saudi airlines to airlift nationals of other countries for hajj, if such a law is not a conjuncture of NAHCON? Unfortunately, the domestic airlines are not seen championing any of the causes or challenging the government on why there had been preferences for foreign airlines on government aviation policies.”” By the way, how does Adamu Hassan of NAHCON wants anyone to believe his cock and bull story that the Saudi government wants all countries of over 100 participating in the hajj to allocate 50% of their nationals to just one single airline called Flynas? Where has that airline gotten the capacity???”
“These guys just went out to organize a unilateral airline for themselves to make money; another way government officials are denying domestic airlines the markets available in hajj operations”“Some persons have entrenched themselves in NAHCON even when they are out, they still have influence over government decisions and some of us know them. The way to fight them is to query the Saudi decision to deny our nation the right to fully organize the airlifting of our nationals or find out those behind Flynas Airline; you can be sure they are mainly Nigerians who are not necessarily members of NAHCON but who have moles there.”On multiple entry points stunting development of domestic airlines, he stated that our domestic airlines will not develop when the exclusive market on domestic and regional routes are open to foreign carriers and called on the airline operators of Nigeria (AON) to champion their own cause for growth.“We have no known policy for the growth of Nigerian airlines. How can our airlines develop capacity when we allow any foreign airline to fly to all four or five of our international airports? How can our airlines develop capacity when the exclusive market on our domestic and regional routes are opened to foreign airlines? Ojikutu questioned.“ Would the British allow Arik or Medview to fly to Gatwick and Heathrow the way British Airways flies to Lagos and Abuja? Or would the United States allow Nigerian airlines to have multiple designation in the US the way Delta flies to Abuja (before the stopped for economic reasons) and Lagos?”“ Worse still which African country will allow a Nigerian airline gallivant her country the way Ethiopian Airline is gallivanting in Nigeria to all five international airports? We need to call government’s attention to the lopsidedness or else there will be no capacity for development for domestic airline