The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, is set to save about N2 billion yearly by carrying out compulsory training for its technical and administrative staff in Nigeria as opposed to the former practice of training staff overseas.
Spokesman and General Manager, Public Affairs, of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, who disclosed this earlier in the week said that civil aviation authorities all over the world have outlined compulsory training programme for their staff endorsed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO.
He also said as a result of poor local capacity, most of these training programmes were done overseas, but in the reality of Nigeria’s present economic recession, the NCAA has decided to domestic many of these programmes.
Adurogboye noted that long before the recession set in, NCAA was expending the bulk of its forex on overseas training for its staff, both technical and administrative.
“It was a matter of policy that all middle and senior cadre staff attend one form of foreign training programme or the other at least once in two years. It was an entitlement, something staff really looked forward to. But it was a drain on the Authority’s purse.”
“Its workforce has climbed steadily from just over 400 at its founding in 2001 to around 1,400 now. And this is without commensurate rise in its earnings. In fact, its main source of income, the five percent ticket and cargo sales tax has remained almost static. Worse, airlines and other service providers owe NCAA over N12 billion, and are defaulting in rescheduled payments,” Adurogboye explaned.
He noted that despite this reality the agency still carries out its training programmes for the staff because NCAA’s training programmes are mandatory and must be run on schedule, otherwise its status as a Category 1 institution could be in jeopardy.
