Boost for air safety on N1.7bn mobile control towers deal

The Nigerian government last week collaborated with Alistair safety with the acquisition and deployment of N1.7billion mobile control towers for the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, (NAMA)

Aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, who commissioned the two mobile towers in Lagos said, the Buhari government was committed to ensuring safety in the country’s airspace and had not denied the industry funds in this regard.

Sarika said the cost of these two mobile towers is N1.7billion and it is geared towards improving safety of operations, which he described as key activity in the aviation ministry. The intent and purpose of the ministry and what we are doing is to ensure safety and efficiency of our sector without degrading and de-emphasizing issues of security and comfort. The towers would be deployed to Lagos and Abuja as well deploy for use wherever it was needed in airports across the country.

“How very safe you depart point A and land at point B is our primary concern and is of primary importance. So this is an extension to that intent and purpose and so the amount of 1.7billion has been spent to procure these mobile towers, we would use it in Lagos and Abuja and if need be we would take them to locations where they do not have conventional control towers”.

Explaining the features of the facility, Sirika stated that they were, “so equipped, so modernized, so efficient and so very alive. It has everything that a control tower should have, it has real time weather, we have all of that approach and departure procedures and everything else and overflight that ensures smooth flight operations and air traffic management”.

Managing director, NAMA, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu commended the minister for his efforts in ensuring the issue was taken before the Federal Executive Council meeting where approval was given for the funds to be released and purchase of the towers.

Director of operations, NAMA, Lawrence Mathew Pwajok, said the primary was to serve as a contingency, when there is a situation affecting the use of an existing control tower. He explained that, the facility can now be used to temporarily relocate the provision of air traffic control services to the mobile tower.

It can also be moved to anywhere there is no control tower or if the control tower is affected by any nature disaster or assuming also the pandemic that we are also trying to get out off. He stated that, if there is a case of an infection in the control tower, the personnel will be relocated and move the provision of that service to another location, adding that, this couldn’t have come at a better time than now so, this a strategic facility.

‘’This mobile tower will provide a strategic backup for any control tower. Secondly, we have an approval by the FG to do an upgrade of the existing control towers at Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, we call them the safe towers. Upgrading them would require a hardware upgrade and software upgrade and while doing that you will not be able to use the facility you are trying to upgrade so, this will provide a strategic contingency where we can relocate the provision of the air traffic services or the control tower services pending when the hardware and software upgrade of the four control towers”.

The facility is far more advance than the older two. One unique feature of it is it comes with voice communication system with the recording system for voice communication, intercom system for ground, ground communication and then three locations.

While one is for ground control, the other working position is for aerodrome control and a third position for approach control so, this can provide a one-stop-shop solution for ATC in the event that we have any contingency affecting the use of any of our ATM facility and we can rightly say, we can provide any Air Traffic Services in this in the event that any situation affecting the use of the existing ATM facilities in Lagos, Abuja, Kano or Port Harcourt or anywhere in Nigeria.