The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has described the ongoing insinuation that the Nigerian airspace is not covered by Radar as false and misleading.
Putting the records straight, the managing director of NAMA, Alhaji Ahmed Umar Farouk said contrary to an ongoing allegation traced to a television interview granted by a journalist, David Hundeyin, that the country’s airspace did not have adequate radio coverage, he said the radar stations in Nigeria (Kano, Lagos, Abuja, and Port-Harcourt) are serviceable.
The radar coverage falls under the multi-million dollars Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria’s Airspace known in the aviation circle as TRACON is a major facility, installed on behalf of Nigeria by Thales of France to ease air navigation and the surveillance of the Nigerian airspace and also enable real-time search and rescue operations within the country’s airspace.
The NAMA MD, who maintained that the radar services for Terminal and Enroute flights are positively identified and provide air navigation services to airspace users, declared as unfounded and spurious the claims that said otherwise.
Farouk, who revealed the ongoing constant efforts by the federal government to continuously upgrade the navigation system for seamless air transport, stated: “Yes, it is true that the TRACON system, like any other electronics systems, is undergoing an upgrade of software and modernisation to meet the ever-growing demand for efficient, effective and seamless air traffic management services.
“Furthermore, the welfare of Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers in terms of salaries and allowances is not in contention, as to suggest that it is the lowest in the world. NAMA, as a reputable agency, prides herself at ensuring sustainable welfare packages for her staff, especially the Air Traffic Controllers.”
Referring to the recent report on how an unidentified aircraft strayed into the restricted part of the seat of government in Abuja, the NAMA MD said:”The reported “unidentified” aircraft is a security terminology. In real terms, the aircraft in question is known, but only to the ATC. The violation was in the interest of safety, as a result of adverse weather (serious thunderstorm) on the said date.
“The purported circular issued by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), is for airlines to be guided from straying into the marked and published prohibited or restricted areas of the Nigerian airspace.
“It is obvious that the journalist in question does not understand the workings of the surveillance systems, hence his misconstrued and misguided information on Primary and Secondary Radar. The agency shall willfully volunteer information on her services to anyone who requires them at any time.”
NAMA therefore pledged its commitment to its responsibility to provide safe, effective, economical, and efficient air navigation services in Nigeria, saying: “The existence of robust, effective civil/military coordination and collaboration guarantees a secured airspace and air navigation. We are pleased to say that the Nigerian airspace is safe and secured.”
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