The Austrian Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Thomas Schlesinger, has praised the management of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) for making the safety of the Nigerian airspace a top priority in its agenda. He made this commendation on Friday during a courtesy visit to NAMA’s headquarters in Abuja.
In the Ambassador’s entourage were the Embassy Secretary, Miss Antonia Bierbaumer and the Managing Director of AVSATEL Communications Ltd., Mr. George Eder, whose company partnered with NAMA to provide state-of-the-art surveillance communication and meteorological gear.
Commenting on the critical safety equipment presently installed in airports across Nigeria, Mr. Schlesinger said, “I am very humbled by the degree of responsibility shown here, considering that the lives of passengers and military personnel in flight rest in your hands. We should always be reminded of this, especially after the sad air accidents that occurred in 2005 and 2006 due to the absence of this critical safety equipment that has now transformed the air navigation system in Nigeria. It is also very reassuring to us as individuals because we frequently sit in the airplanes – be it Nigerian or other international planes. It is good to know that our safety is guaranteed. I am grateful; very grateful and impressed by the beautiful work you are doing.”
In response, the Acting Managing Director (MD) of NAMA, Mr. Pwajok Matthew Lawrence confirmed that the absence of critical safety equipment was partly responsible for the crashes in 2005 and 2006, but noted with pride that when the equipment was delivered in 2007, it was the first of its kind in Africa.
“I must confess that AVSATEL provided us with one of the best equipment ever. It was one of the very first projects that brought Nigeria to the limelight internationally, as it provided automated or electronic air traffic management systems in our control towers in 2007”, he said.
He continued by explaining that the project was part of the Federal Government’s Safe Tower project, which also included the installation of meteorological sensors for real time weather reporting, as well as Low Level Wind-shear Alerting System, communication systems, Air Traffic Management Systems and surveillance monitors at the control towers in Abuja, Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Kano – all of which work together to greatly enhance the safety at airports and the Nigerian airspace.
To the guests, Mr. Pwajok also underscored other completed and ongoing projects under the government of President Muhammadu Buhari such as the installation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) Category II in ten (10) airports and the installation of Category III ILS at Lagos and Abuja airports; deployment of Wide Area Multilateration System in the Niger Delta; procurement of a new flight calibration aircraft among others.
The visit ended with a vote of thanks by the NAMA boss to his guests and a tour of the facilities at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport like the ATC mobile control tower for surface movement and ground control and the Abuja Radar Complex.
