NAMA: Professionals call for downward review of 40% deduction of IGR, review of appointments, others

Professional Associations in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency NAMA, have frown on the 40% deduction from the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the agency.

They say this is having an unbearable consequences on the agency’s core mandate in the areas of operations and technical services provision and therefore seek a downward review.

This is contained in a communique issued at the end of an emergency meeting conveyed to address recent appointment and deployment in the agency, signed by the presidents of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, NATCA, National Association of Air Traffic Engineers NAAE, Aeronautical Information Management Association of Nigeria AIMAN and National Air Traffic Communication Association of Nigeria NACAN.

The Professional bodies called for caution and urged the new government to address the problems of air navigation service provision in Nigeria to ensure safety within the country’s airspace.

The communique says, as a matter of urgency, government should review the recent creation of directorates and appointment into the agency out side the provisions of the act that established NAMA.

“It must also be reiterated that qualified staff of the agency are given first priority before bringing in an outsider to take up any career-tied appointments in the agency. As a matter of fact, the practice of appointing non-staff to take up career- tied positions has demoralized the staff of the agency and should not be encouraged in anyway”.

Amongst the demands of the bodies are, the immediate release of the negotiated NAMA’s Staff Condition of Service (COS) in order to forestall further industrial action and that urgent attention be given to periodic and traditional mandatory training and re-training of technical and operational professional staff of the agency which has been impaired lately by paucity of funds.

“The meeting request that the professional responsibility of the agency as the country’s safety lub must be respected and provided with appropriation to be captured in annual budgetary allocation. This is a known tradition in the running of the agency which will go a long way in achieving a re-jig of the agency to deliver on its statutory mandate”.