RE: UNION CALL FOR A TECHNOCRAT

The recent call by unions and some stakeholders calling for the appointment of an industry expert to head the ministry of aviation and their pseudo submission of nominees is self severing and not a true reflection of recent achievements and genuine yearning of the industry in totality. The unions went further by threaten to shut down the industry if a technocrat is not appointed, following the same hollow path and position taken before the appointment of Ms Oduah. She did not forgive the unions for that pronouncement and ensured a wedge was planted between the ministry and the unions, thereafter members resorted to one -one leg relationship with the ministry. Having a technocrat at the helms of the ministry is not the panacea to our problem, the last technocrat only facilitated the increment of Nigeria Airways pilots remunerations thereafter "na Sidon look" till handover . A technocrat is nice to have not need to have; the president must not be compelled by threats but should rather be left alone to make his choice, putting in perspective the federal character concept as enshrined in the constitution. What we need is an administrator and entrepreneur who will supervise the agencies and also attract investors into the sector and will not be mentally ambushed. He or she will correct the lapses therein and complete ongoing projects considering the time frame of this administration. The unions should rather roll their sleeves for issues related to corporate existence of the agencies, career progression of their members’ e.t.c which should be addressed by reviewing recent appointments, concessions and agreements. The incoming minister must also checkmate the recent trend of running the industry on the pages of newspaper and ensure the sanctity of the act governing the agencies. Also our CAT 1 certification is under threat, India just lost it despite not having a major air mishap, our carriers are on lookers on their own soil while the Ethiopians, Gulf and Europeans carriers are operating freely to different airports in our country by capitalising on our ethnic differences, this we collectively need to work on rather than bicker on appointees