By Emmanuel Obisue
Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has clarified the nature of a recent motion in the House of Representatives concerning the licensing of private airstrips.
His explanation came in a bid to address reports that the House called for the revocation of private airstrip licenses including that of Living Faith Church Founder, David Oyedepo.
Keyamo emphasized that the House, as a body, did not issue such a call. He said, rather, a motion raised by an individual member was referred to the Aviation Committee for further investigation, he clarified.
In a statement issued recently, Keyamo acknowledged the patriotic intentions of the member who moved the motion, but he indicated that it was based on a misunderstanding of the processes governing private airstrips. He explained that private airstrip operations in Nigeria are heavily regulated, involving multiple layers of authorization and oversight by federal agencies.
The minister said private airstrip owners are responsible solely for building the runway and terminal facilities. However, once the control tower is established, it is handed over to the Federal Government and placed under the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA.
“NAMA provides air traffic controllers and engineers for all airports and airstrips in Nigeria, and private airstrip owners pay the government for these services,” he stated.
Keyamo highlighted that all aircraft entering Nigerian airspace are required to file detailed flight plans and obtain prior clearance from NAMA. He further stressed that he recently directed that all inbound flights must land at international airports for proper processing before making any domestic flights to local airstrips or airports.
“It is completely and totally impossible for any private airstrip owner to operate flights in and out of the country without federal authorization,” Keyamo noted, adding that the House member could have sought clarification from the Ministry before advancing the motion.
“I think this is not correct. The House of Reps. as a body did not call on the Minister to revoke the license of any private airstrip. I think what happened is that someone moved a motion in that regard and it was unanimously referred to the Aviation Committee to look into it.
“Whilst the intention of the Hon. Members who moved it was very patriotic, it was based on a complete lack of knowledge of the aviation sector.
“The responsibility of the owners of private airstrips is just to build the runway and terminal building.
“An MOU is usually signed with NAMA in this regard before the airstrip is approved for operations. It is NAMA that provides the Air Traffic Controllers and Engineers in all airports and airstrips in Nigeria. The private airstrip owners pay the Federal Government handsomely for these services.
“So, it is completely and totally impossible for any private airstrip owner to just jump on an aircraft and fly in and out of the country through that facility,” Keyamo stated.