Dearth of professionals hit NAMA

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency NAMA is grappling with the shortage of professionals in various cadres in the organisation, as most experienced hands have retired.

Daily Times investigation revealed that no fewer than five directors of operations have retired in the last few months in NAMA.

About 80 percent of workers of the agency engaged in provision and maintenance of navigational aids are professionals requiring huge amount of money for training and retraining.

As a result of dearth of professionals in the system, the agency engaged the services of these retirees as contract staff based on their experience and lack of trained personnel.

Ageing workforce is also affecting the agency and the inability of  government to train professionals has worsen the situation.

Aviation stakeholders have in different fora called for succession plans in the aviation industry especially an agency such as NAMA the has professionals as it’s core workers.

The immediate past president of Aviation Round Table Capt Dele Ore, has expressed fear and worry over the continuous retirement of core professionals in the aviation parastatals especially NAMA warning that it will be disastrous should government fail to address the situation.

The only recently, the newly appointed acting director of operations Daily Times gathered was dropped following petitions and disagreement among the professionals in NAMA as per the choice of the man.

At the time of gathering this report, the NAMA has no acting director of operations as a result of the disagreement among the professional body as who is to head the Directorate.

As it becomes messier, the management is not leaving any stone unturned as it had decided to fill the position by conducting examination for contenders to the post following agitations by the affected professionals.

Meanwhile, an aviation stakeholder have kicked against the appointment of acting directors by the acting managing director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency NAMA.

The publisher aviation security magazine Alhaji Abdulyekeen Umar said the acting managing director was not in order to appoint any body to act in any capacity.

He reiterated his call on the Federal government to appoint immediately a substantive managing director for the agency to ensure that the agency continue to move ahead.

Umar noted that there was limit to the performance of the acting managing director.