Borno State-born, Comrade Isaac David Balami is the National President of the National Association of Aircraft Pilot and Engineers, NAAPE, and a philanthropist who founded the Isaac Balami Foundation that is committed to positively impacting on the lives of youths and preparing them to take up leadership of the country. He has been a major player in the Aviation sector for about 11 years and recently produced a well-received policy framework for the re-positioning of the Nigerian Aviation sector. In this interview with DAILY POST’s Ali Adoyi and Sylvester Ugwuanyi, he spoke on issues plaguing the nation’s Aviation industry and proffers agenda for the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Excerpts of the interview are presented below…
How long have you been in the aviation sector?
I have been in the sector for about eleven years now and I have been the Aviation president for six years
Can you tell us how you were able to rise to this prime position in the aviation sector?
I went into NAAPE because Nigerians need to be empowered as I was driven by the need for technological transfer from the expatriates working in the sector. Well, my basic challenge is that I cannot withstand injustice. That is why when I was in the university I was expelled twice, because I believe in things being done properly. Even when I joined the aviation sector after getting my licence, I found out that most of my senior colleagues were working in a slave camp. That is a situation whereby you see an expatriate doing what a secondary school leaver can do, and he has been there for thirty years and he does not want to leave for Nigerians to take over, no technology transfer. The expatriates have been frustrating Nigerians.
I did not go into NAAPE because I am a racist, but to empower Nigerians, as I have come to discover that there is a need for full technology transfer. Having gone through all this, I observed that the only platform that can give me the mandate to fight for a change for Nigerians is NAAPE, the apex body that has been catering for the affairs of Pilots and Aircraft Engineers for over thirty five years in the country. I contested and God helped me, I won by over 92.5 percent across the country, this was because of my passion and I was able to let people know what my plans were.
What strides can you say you and your colleagues have been able to record in the sector?
Looking back to where we started from and where we have gotten to today, I am happy that if you go to airlines like Aero Contractors, Bristol helicopter, Pan African helicopters , Cavaton helicopters and all those small airlines like WestLink airlines, you will see that Nigerians are now fully in charge. For example, when I was in Aero Contractors eight or nine years ago, Nigerians could not even carry out airline engine change, you could count the number of captains, in terms of who is the chief pilot, the training Captain, the Chief Captain, the line maintenance engineer, the workshop manager, the business maintenance manager and the quality inspector manager for the airline were all foreigners, but today I am proud to say that Nigerians have ran those offices successfully for the past five years without any accident in those airlines. This makes me to believe that we are growing, though there is still room for improvement but so far so good.
Can you give us an overview of the Nigerian Aviation sector as it is presently?
My understanding of the Nigerian Aviation sector is that we are good. Because just at a time a country as big as India which people consider to be more serious than us, when looking at the health and other sectors, with all their advancement and democracy were able to lose the American category one status, meaning that no aircraft registered there can fly from India to America, Nigeria was able to attain the same status.
Just about the time they lost their own, within few months, despite all the plane crashes, we were able to come together as engineers and pilots, we walked to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to give them all the necessary support. NCAA recruited more experienced aircraft engineers and pilots to support them and when the federal American authority came in, they were impressed with Nigeria and our licence was renewed that is a huge achievement. I think what we need to do now is to continue with the road map on what (former Minister) Princess Oduah started. She had a good vision, stating that Lagos and Abuja should be the hob.
Also in the road map is Benue with regards to agriculture, so that we could export farm produce. We need to focus on those areas and then the regulations – NCAA still needs some more experience hands as most of the pilots and engineers with the NCAA are over 60 years and are mostly on contract. There is need to employ more people that are middle-aged to support them because the wok is becoming much as many airlines are coming on board, and there are a lot of old aircraft around so we need more experience and manpower to be able to meet that need for safety oversight.
What do you think is responsible for airline operators going under in Nigeria?
As to why the airlines are going down, it is predicated on poor funding, management, lack of government support, the environment is hostile, multiple taxation, no place to fix aircraft, as airliners earn their income in naira but at the end of the year, they go abroad and pay in dollars to fix the planes; some people cannot handle all these things. Hence, the government needs to look into these challenges.
What can you say is the fate of the Aviation sector under the new administration of President Buhari?
I think much was said about the Aviation sector during the campaigns but I think the media did not re-echo it properly. The current President during the electioneering period made it clear that he will revisit the issue of the Nigerian Airways. To me, that is a major statement because today it is so sad that after all these years of Independence, Nigeria is still struggling with some small airlines that cannot take care of themselves. First of all, the government needs to work on the environment and those things I have recommended like maintenance and other things must be put in place. And there should be a bank like Agric bank to cater for the Aviation sector where operators can draw funds from.
The government should ensure there is corporate governance, as there is need to merge all the Airlines together to at least two major airlines. If one should focus on the International route, the other should face the local route. So others should merge with the two major airlines but we can still have some chattered flights for private movement around, but we need at least two major airlines in the country and Mr. President has assured us that he was going to look at that. We expect that Aviation should be one of the top priorities within his first one hundred days in office. We do not have to wait until things begin to degenerate to plane crashes before we now start proffering solutions. In a letter I wrote to him on behalf of our association, I made it clear what we think the sector should look like.
How would you assess the administration of former President, Goodluck Jonathan regarding the Aviation sector?
It was during Jonathan’s tenure that the category one was renewed. A lot of airlines came on board but the issue is that the environment is not suitable for them. The average life span of an airline in Nigeria is ten years and if you look at the history, you will see it has been consistent and those things that make the airline not to go down have not been taken care by the previous administration. This government needs to look at those things and ensure that they are taken care of. If they are not, even if you have a National carrier and you give them two or three billion dollars to start, it will still crash. That is why we are saying first things first: let the environment be conducive for airline operators and people should be empowered to do the right thing. Let’s have professionals to man the aviation sector. We do not want a situation where people who have no clue about the sector man the affairs of the sector – people who do not understand aviation language when disaster is going on. To move the sector forward, we need somebody who has wealth of experience. That way, he or she will be able to operate effectively, not somebody who does not know when he is being told lies. The problem we have in the sector is that we have a Minister who has no background about the sector.
What is your idea of an ideal minister Buhari should appoint for the Aviation sector?
An aviation Minister should be a seasoned aviator. That is somebody with a licence; be it a captain, engineer or whatever. Such a person should have a good wealth of experience; we should know where he has worked before, what are his achievements and what he is doing currently. As for me, I do not have any name but I am sure the President must have come across somebody who has passion for the sector. I want somebody with pedigree, not a fraudulent person. That way, the problem of the past will be eradicated.
You recently developed a policy document for the industry. What led you into coming up with that?
When the present government was elected, the National Association of Pilot and Engineers chaired by me wrote a concept note to the President about things that are affecting the Aviation sector and the solutions to the problems. Problems like airline operator certificate; meaning when somebody wants to start an airline, they should consider the economic aspect.
Today, if you go to the sector, you will see airlines which are barely two years owing their workers between three to four months’ salary which is not good. Before you start an airline, funding should be a top priority. Imagine a pilot in the cockpit thinking about his children’s school fees, or an engineer working on a plane engines thinking about his family he cannot cater for. These are serious safety issues.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria should start using cutting-edge technology in doing their job. For instance, renewal of licence as a pilot or an engineer is done manually, and this should change as it has a way of causing delays. Things should be automated.
Why does Nigeria always witness flight delays and what should be done to redress this?
So many factors are responsible for delay in flight schedule. These are; fault from the airline, when the aircraft is not air-worthy. Globally, flights are being delayed. More so, weather or even the government agencies themselves can cause it. An aircraft that is supposed to have eight landings after so much work the conveyor belt that is provided by the airport authority refuses to work passenger will not be able to get their luggage, also upon arrival an aircraft was want to park but cannot due to lack of space or your aircraft is having problems that should be fixed locally but due to lack of maintenance facilities you start calling people from outside the country, all these things add up to cause delays. It should be noted that flight are delayed all over the world.
The sector needs to be funded. Airliners should have spare aircraft, but the question is how many operators can afford to have a spear, just parking an aircraft in the hanger alone without buying fuel or flying it has an overhead cost of USD 250,000 thousand per day, imagine the turn over you need to cover to pay your bills. Small operator like Aero spends over N700m monthly for fuel, over N600m on salaries. At the end of the day, you realize that the airlines need to be funded. If not for AMCON Aero and Arik, we would have had a major problem.
These are the issues we want this administration to look into. We know these airlines and what are their strength. Aero for instance is 55 year’s old, so base on our advice, we believe that something will change
Considering that Nigerians are complaining about the high cost of air fare, if government funds airliners shouldn’t that tell on what travelers pay as fares?
The fares will reduce when government assists in funding. As a matter of fact, it is exorbitant, but what about the environments, the cost of operation, are they making profit? These are things we should consider. Globally, the best airline like Qatar and Emirate make five to eight percent annually and they have the full support of the UAE government but here there is no support.
Where do you see the Aviation sector in the next four to five years from now?
We should be able to compete with Ethiopia and South Africa airways if the government is serious as we are ready. Our job is nothing but to just fly and maintain aircraft. That is what we are trained for. The government needS to make the environment conducive for us. Today, if you check the Ehiopian airline for example, it has the latest aircraft, airbus A380 depending on the seat configuration. It can take over 600 passengers excluding cargo and fuel at the same time. It is a wide body aircraft, however most of those that fly the aircraft are Ethiopian citizens; but in this country, we do not believe in ourselves. You see somebody flying a private jet with the belief that the person who should serve him tea should be a white lady, forgetting that if he gives the opportunity to a Nigerian, he is creating jobs. The truth is that we are not patriotic and that is where we need to wake up. For instance, if you go to MTN which has been in the country for a long time you will see that some sensitive jobs that can be done by Nigerians are being done by South Africans. This is because our leaders are not patriotic as their children are abroad and they do not care about you and me.
Today in NAAPE, we have been able to create jobs for over 300 pilots and engineers. Look at Kenya, they give pilots or engineer from Nigeria three months visa; for that period, they will attach you to somebody who will understudy you. The person will be the one to determine the duration of your stay there but in Nigeria to change just tyres which a secondary school leaver with three to six month training can do. You still see an expatriate changing tyres for thirty years because we do not have leaders. Our leaders are not serious the local content which NNPC started is not functional. The new government needs to get people with track records to begin to head Ministries so that it can work. Our value system is dead. Some of us believe so much in this country, and that is why when we were given jobs in the US, we refused because if we all leave, who will man the airspace. But we have not been able to get Ministers who are credible. You advice a Minister on the way out, they will turn it down. As an aviation President, you seek audience with the Minister, he tells you to go and book an appointment, these are the issues, imagine an aviation Minister calling for meeting without the presence of pilots and engineers.
Going back memory lane, the association is comfortable, we do not leak peoples butt. We believe in doing what is right and I hope that this government will be able to do what is right. I’m optimistic and I so much believe in this new administration.
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