The lingering dearth of Air Traffic Control personnel in Nigeria and possible ways of ameliorating the situation formed the fulcrum of discussions at th 39th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigeria Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) which held on weekend in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.

The AGM with the theme: “Air Traffic Control Human Capital Development; Collaborating for Global Air Safety,” focused on the dwindling number of air traffic controllers in the Nigerian aviation sector and seemingly inability of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, NCAT, to provide succour.

The event which brought together seasoned controllers and aviation experts from Nigeria and beyond, exposed the fact  that Nigeria still operates with less than 300 controllers as against the world aviation regulatory body, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO’s stipulation for a minimum of 400.

A retired director of operations in the Nigerian airspace management Agency (NAMA),  Adebisi  Adedara noted that the rate of attrition in the department has reached an alarming state, stressing that there may be need for NCAT to shorten  the course duration for controllers so as to fast track ongoing efforts to bridge the gap.

Adedara noted that the shortage in the number of controllers had led to over-labouring the few at hand, many of whom he said are already on their ways to retirement.

“The rate of attrition in the air traffic control department is very high. While we are currently having 280 controllers as against the mandatory 400, about 45 percent of them are already on their way to retirement.

“The effect of this is that the few controllers at hand are overworked, stressed up, cannot socialize, even as they work in an  incondusive environment. 75 percent of controllers in Nigeria wear glasses as they stay glued to the screen for several hours,” he noted.

He however attributed the situation to a gap of about nine years in the production of controllers by NCAT which he said created a vacuum, just as he said that there has not been a conscious succession plan by government and past chief executives of the highly regulated sector.

“For nine years or thereabout, there was no single controller produced by the NCAT. Also at a time when the shortage in manpower in the department became too transparent in the early 90s, a set of about a hundred controllers were at the same time injected into the system, all the 100 controllers are on there way to retirement at the same time now,” he stressed.

Corroborating this, NATCA president, Jibrin Haske said there was need for government to take urgent steps towards capacity building among controllers even as he commended latter for recent moves in the area of equipment upgrade.

He urged government as well as NAMA management to match the drive towards modern equipment acquisition with human capacity development for an effective and efficient result.

According to him, the recent moves by government in the sector portray strong indication that the future of aviation in Nigeria is bright.

“Our association has repeatedly stressed the often forgotten fact that aviation practice, particularly air traffic control, is human centered. While we have consistently demanded for the procurement, installation and maintenance of modern and efficient air traffic management infrastructure in our airspace for the safe and expeditious

conduct of operations, it does not in any way detract from theimperative to engage personnel who have to skillfully apply these tools to achieve the objectives of air traffic services.

“Skilled and resourceful air traffic controllers are an asset to everycountry at all times hence the need to prioritize the maintenance and retention of their skills and proficiency.

“In this vein, we acknowledge and commend the World Bank and theNigerian Airspace Management Agency for the massive training programme of radar controllers in USA. We are equally delighted that the first set of ATCOs attending the PPL course in the United States would depart before the end of October,” Haske acknowledged.

In order to make the demands a reality, Chairman of NAMA’s board of directors, Alhaji Abubakar Barrage Kawu implored all end users of the agency’s service to assist government through prompt payment for services rendered to them.

He noted that since the agency could only discharge its duties optimally when it is financially buoyant, it behoves on the airlines to be prompt in the payment of services rendered to them by NAMA. Kawu, who doubles as the National General Secretary of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stressed that government on its part  has made it a matter of priority to ensure that the pay-as-you-go mode of payment, recently adopted by the agency works, so as to enable it meet up with its pressing obligations.