Wole Shadare 
FG to enhance surveillance
In a bid to boost revenue generation in the aviation sector, the Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation is looking at ways of collecting landing fees from helicopters operating in Nigerian airspace. With an eye on this, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, inaugurated the latest batch of trained Helicopter Monitoring Officers at the International Wing of the Port Harcourt International Airport in the Rivers State capital. In his opening remarks, the minister, who was represented by the Director of Human Resources at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Norris Anozie, reiterated the resolve of the Federal Government to improve revenue collection of helicopter landing charges. Appreciating the minister, the host of the event lauded the innovations brought in by the minister into the sector. The minister then inaugurated the trainees before commissioning the helicopter monitoring facility at the airport. One of the newly trained Helicopter Monitoring Officers explained that everywhere helicopters land or take off from in the country would be adequately monitored. The Helicopter Monitoring Officers are going to be vested with the responsibility of collecting landing fees on behalf of the Federal Government. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has expressed strong interest in supporting the growth and expansion of Nigerian airlines and would like to explore ways it can provide financing and investment for airlines to expand their fleets, enhance capacity and compete on the global stage. The MOFI Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Armstrong Takang, made this known during a courtesy call on the Ministry of Aviation by its management for collaboration between both organizations on Tuesday in Abuja. Assistant Director (Press), Ministry of Aviation, Nawani Abdullahad, told New Telegraph that Sirika had said a collaboration between the Aviation Ministry and MOFI was paramount in the civil aviation part of the Nigerian economy. Sirika expressed excitement that there was a structure for MOFI, and that it had fallen into the right hands to get the mandate of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria delivered and effected appropriately.
He recalled that during the nation’s transition committee period, there was an extensive discussion as to what contribution the aviation sector could make, and it was considered to add up to five per cent to the GDP of Nigeria. The Minister added that a road map was created for the civil aviation industry to create a robust sector that would be financially healthy and which would also make aviation the most preferred means of transportation. The MOFI CEO in his submissions congratulated the Minister on his recent appointment as a member of the MOFI Governing Council. Dr. Armstrong recalled that MOFI was used as a special purpose vehicle across the economic sector, focused on holding federal government investments, which it had been using to invest in commercial entities for over 60 years. However, he added that MOFI was not structured to deliver on the mandate that was expected of it, noting that its peers established at the same time and restructured to reflect current realities, had gone on to make major social and economic impacts in their respective countries. Many of them, he said, had become global brands for investing beyond their home countries’ borders. He said, in line with the approval of Mr. President to create a comprehensive National Asset Register (NAR) by aggregating, profiling, and managing all national assets and investments, the NAR would be harnessed to strengthen the nation’s fiscal and economic realities and the optimization of our investments and assets, noting that the development and modernization of the country’s airports were crucial for socio-economic development. The MOFI Chief Executive, who expressed the organisation’s strong interest in supporting the growth and expansion of Nigerian airlines, added that MOFI would like to explore ways in which it can provide financing and investment for airlines to expand their fleets, enhance their devices and compete on the global stage. He noted that the investment and collaboration would bring about mutual benefits for both MOFI and the Ministry of Aviation.
