10 months as NCAA Helmsman: Captain Najomo’s Transformative Leadership

 10 months as NCAA Helmsman: Captain Najomo’s Transformative Leadership

In a move to elevate the standards of Nigeria’s aviation sector, President Bola Tinubu in December 2023, approved the appointment of Captain Chris Najomo as the Acting Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The change in leadership, according to the Federal Government, was to enhance regulatory oversight, the well-being of passengers and stakeholders in the Nigeria aviation industry. 

In January, 2024, at the induction of the newly appointed Chief Executive Officers and directors of the six parastatals under the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, the Minister, Festus Keyamo, made the various CEOs under the supervision of the ministry sign a performance bond. 

After the CEOs signed the bond, the minister charged them to conduct themselves properly. 

His words to them were: “This is a call to service and a call to service goes more than pecuniary gains. It is an invitation to serve the nation and to show the world what you can do in public service and how much you can improve things from where they were when you were called to serve."

 The minister who likened the ministry to football players and coaches said: “In football, when a team is not doing well, it is the coach that gets fired and I used to wonder why it is the coach because it is clear that it is the footballer that is not doing well but the coach gets fired.

 “I have come to realize that it is the responsibility of the coach to pick his team. So, they don’t attack the coach but the team. So, the changes made in the aviation sector are aimed at making sure the players play according to the vision and the plan of the coach. It is not as if the people that you are replacing were bad, they are Nigerians too, but it is about the coach picking his team to actualize his vision and for the players to play to actualize the vision of the coach, and that is what you must realize. The uniqueness of the aviation ministry is that, unlike other ministries, most of the work of the aviation ministry is in the agencies and not the ministry. Work in terms of regulation and revenue. So, you must understand that most of the work is in your hands, and it will require you to work assiduously to ensure that there is a breath of fresh air entirely in the aviation ministry.”
These words propelled Capt. Najomo and he commenced work immediately. One of his first tasks was to foster collaboration among stakeholders. Thereafter and in  recognition of the increase in the use of drones which has expanded beyond military operations to commercial, scientific, recreational, and agricultural purposes such as policing, peacekeeping, surveillance, cargo delivery, aerial photography and agriculture, 

Capt. Najomo set the stage for a dedicated unit for the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS)  popularly known as drones. To effectively integrate the UAS into the National Airspace, Najomo approved the creation of a dedicated UAS Integration Unit in the NCAA to act as a hub for the registration, licensing, and monitoring of the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS). 

The authority said it had observed that drones  are used in smuggling, film making, oil and gas exploration and drone racing, hence the need to monitor their use.

With the new unit in place, the NCAA has received over 300 applications from operators for certification by the NCAA.
The ombudsman of aviation in Nigeria has also made significant achievements in promoting aviation safety, security, and passenger satisfaction .
Capt Najomo’s ease of doing business mantra has ensured a Reduction of the total time for certifications, aircraft registrations and provision of technical services.
Passenger rights and consumer protection have been some of the core issues the present administration in NCAA is taking seriously. 

Passengers are one of the major stakeholders in the aviation industry.

Since assumption of office, there has been upward and swift resolution of customer issues. 

The NCAA has concentrated on ensuring improved and quality services in the industry. Capt. Najomo is aiming at ensuring that Nigeria travelers receive quality service comparable to international standards.

 He has established clear guidelines and driven compliance for passenger rights, including compensation for flight delays, cancellations, and lost baggage. The Authority’s Consumer Protection Regulations ensure that passengers are treated fairly and with dignity, and assist persons with reduced mobility and families of aircraft accidents.
Airlines have also been made to be upright in their dealings.

 Before now, some airlines had displayed cunning departure times on their websites just to boost patronage. 

Airlines use deceitful time to attract passengers only to keep them waiting for hours and sometimes cancelling flights. 

To curb this trend, the NCAA continues to engage airlines in line with the NCAA regulations, which states that no airline shall display deceitful departure time at its counter, advert material or website. 

A few of the cases recently resolved are the recent complaint by a Nigerian traveller who alleged poor treatment by Turkish Airlines, another on baggage issues with Egypt Air. 

The Authority also engaged Royal Air Maroc following claims that some Nigerians were ill-treated when the Abuja-bound aircraft from Casablanca had technical issues, which resulted in an emergency landing in Marrakesh. 

The Authority weighed in and the issues were resolved promptly.
For effective service delivery and public awareness, the Consumer Protection department was rebranded. 

The department now has new uniforms for easy identification and visibility at the various airports. In addition to the rebranding of the department, a portal and QR Code were recently launched for ease of complaint resolution.
To address complaints of unaffordable airfares, the NCAA engaged with foreign airlines in February 2024. 

Capt. Najomo inaugurated a committee comprising officials from the NCAA, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agency (NANTA) in March 2024. 

These engagements and other actions by the federal government promptly resulted in foreign airlines unblocking their lower inventory fares and making cheaper fares available.
Based on the Minister’s and Ag. DGCA’s trip to the United Kingdom and sustained by the commitment of President Tinubu, Air Peace was able to commence the Lagos-London flight operations.
For certification of licenses, a complete re-evaluation of all holders of Permit for Non-Commercial Flight (PNCF) ordered by the Ag. DGCA is currently ongoing to ensure holders adhere to the terms and conditions of their permits. 

The Authority has also instituted a simplified certification process as a derivative of the ease-of-doing business policy of the Najomo administration. 

Ease of doing business without compromising safety is Najomo’s maxim and he has exhibited it in so many ways.
As the gatekeeper of the sector, barely a week ago, Nigeria secured more points in the global rating of countries in aircraft leasing.

 Nigeria moved from 70.5 points to 75.5 per cent after it signed the revised Advisory circular on the Irrevocable De-Registration and Export Request Authorisation (IDERA).

With the latest move, a global consortium of aircraft leasing, the Aviation Working Group (AWG), removed Nigeria from its watch list.

 Removal of Nigeria from the watch list would enable Nigerian airlines to access aircraft on a dry lease basis, and global financial companies would also be able to partner with Nigerian airlines for aircraft leasing.
Overall, the NCAA under the leadership of Capt. Najomo has played a vital role in promoting a safe, secure, and passenger-centric aviation industry in Nigeria.
For any public and private organization to thrive, the importance of the welfare of staff is paramount. 

To this end, the NCAA, under the leadership of Najomo, paid the backlog of Housing (Rent) arrears to all Staff that had accumulated from 2019 and commenced payment of the backlog of relocation allowance to staff owed.
The authority is also tackling staff stagnation issues following the acceptance and approval of the recommendation of the Ag. DG by the minister, for inter-directorate deployment to open up bottlenecks in the structure and subsequently the promotion of stagnated staff from GL.14 to GL.15 has been effected.

He has also sustained payment of staff monthly salary by the 22nd of every month despite the effects of the Authority’s reduced financial resources arising from the 50 per cent statutory deduction ensuring that the Authority’s internal stakeholders are satisfied and can also focus on their regulatory job happily and without compromising. 

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