Sade Williams/Business a.m.
Tayo John, director, air traffic services at the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), said recently that the country needs a brand new radar system, and also disclosed that the government has started the modernisation of the system but affirmed that the best solution is to acquire new radar for the country.
The director disclosed that in order to maintain efficiency and safety of flight positions across Nigeria, the country’s airspace is well structured and sectorised and backed up with adequate redundancy systems that will be operational in the event of a system failure.
The ATS director spoke during a brief visit to the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) site at the international wing of the Aminu Kano Airport where he interacted with air traffic controllers on duty.
To buttress the call for the new equipment, he explained that despite its technological advancement, the country’s radar is lagging behind the current edition used in most parts of the world, adding that the producer of the equipment, Thales of France has done two augmentations while the one used by Nigeria remains the same.
He said: “this system (the radar) is already automated but it is obsolete. I won’t say it cannot guarantee the safety of operations, it can, but the system needs to be augmented. The producer of this system is called Thales. They have done about two augmentation and we are still where we are. However, [the] government has started what we call modernisation of the system but the major solution is to buy new radar for this country.”
Speaking on a major component of the equipment on the site, the director added: “This is an automatic system, this is a technological advanced automated system that gives you the aircraft identity, the altitude it is maintaining, the direction the aircraft is flying to and the speed of the aircraft except it is directed by the ATC to change course. In terms of security this is the first phase you see aircraft coming in at a particular altitude, this is where you see aircraft descending or climbing out of a particular place, without this system you cannot see them.
“But you see in Nigeria due to power problems, sometimes it fails. Right now, it is obsolete, the labels are dropping, that is why we need a new radar system for safety and efficiency of air navigation in Nigeria and again for the safety of the flying public.”
At the rescue coordination centre at the TRACON, Tayo John said NAMA is able to efficiently and adequately monitor and coordinate rescue operations from its major two centres in Kano and Lagos and other centres in Abuja and other locations.
He commended other stakeholders in the rescue mission for their collaborations at any given time saying, “we are able to coordinate rescue operations from here. We have other rescue sub centres under Lagos and Kano in collaboration with all the stakeholders including the military, airforce, army, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria fire service of each state, Julius Berger, oil companies, among others.”
The director also commended the staff under his directorate affirming that they work round the clock and sometimes at personal risks to their lives in order to ensure safety of flights operations and passengers in the country just as he urged them not to rest on their oars.
