Aviation unions want technocrat as new aviation minister

Aviation unions under the leadership of the Joint Consultative and Negotiating Council (JCNC) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to consider the appointment of a seasoned, technically experienced and astute professional to oversee the aviation sector.

The call, according to the union, was necessitated by the noticeable lapses observed in the attempt at transforming the sector in the past which had failed largely due to technical inefficiencies and knowledge deficiency in the ever-sensitive and capital intensive sector. Rising from its meeting last Friday, the union in a joint communiqué released Monday and signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Comrade Nnadi Hector and Abubakar M. Sadiq, among others, recommended that a member of the previous team in the immediate past administration who had played prominent role be considered due to the need to sustain the current momentum in the ongoing transformational activities in the sector.

The union also recommended the appointment of an Aviator. This they said will sustain the gains achieved by the immediate past minister and also fasttrack the implementation of the recently reviewed Aviation Policy and the Aviation Road-map respectively.

JCNC also wants the immediate past Minister of Aviation to be commended for the series of initiatives introduced in the sector and the expansive remodeling programmes instituted during her stewardship of the entire sector.