In response to the impending shortage of Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs) controllers in the country, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has announced its plan to recruit an additional 100 ATCOs.
It also disclosed that no fewer than 40 ATCO cadets are already undergoing training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, in a bid to fill the expected vacuum in the next six years.
Acting Managing Director of NAMA, Engineer Lawrence Pwajok, revealed this over the weekend at the 51th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (NATCA), held in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He said the management had envisaged a gap in the number of ATCOs and had put in place a plan to recruit at least 100 personnel between 2022 and 2028.
The ongoing training of 40 cadets, the NAMA boss aid was apart from the 100 personnel planned for the agency by 2028.
Pwajok, who was represented at the occasion by the Acting Director of Operations, NAMA, Mr. Jubril Haske, said that several of the current controllers would retire from the system by 2028.
He added that NAMA management had absorbed additional six ATCOS trained by Niger Delta Development Commission into the agency to address the expected shortage.
He said: “Management is aware of the current and impending shortage of Air Traffic Controllers due to retirement, death and unrelenting increase in the number of airports around the country.
“Management is also aware of the pressure that shortage has been exerting and may further be exerting on your members. Let me assure you that we are already working to ensure that the situation does not become an emergency.
“Presently, a Basic ATC Course is running in NCAT, Zaria for 40 cadets and very soon, another set will resume as soon as Zaria has space. This is besides efforts at obtaining approval to recruit additional 100 Air Traffic controllers for strategic replacement of ATCOS that will retire from service up to 2028.”
Besides, Pwajok stated that NAMA had trained at least 36 ATCOs in various courses and countries in the last six months.
The breakdown of the training indicated that 16 ATCOs were trained in Basic Procedure Design and Airspace Planning in Cairo, Egypt in the first quarter of 2022, while an additional 12 were trained in Nairobi, Kenya in Search and Rescue Mission Operation within the same period.
Also, eight ATCOs travelled to Czech Republic for the Multilateration (MLAT) operational training in the first quarter of 2022.
The acting managing director added that as part of the requirements for the development of capacity for the production of maps and charts including Visual Flight Rules (VFR) charts, some of the ATCOs just returned from Cairo for training.
He stated that these were tailored towards achieving a seamless conduct of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) for the country.
According to Pwajok, NAMA had also trained 16 ATCOS in the Phase Two of the Controller Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC) in Paris, France, while an additional 20 is slated for training in Cairo in the next two months.
He also said that an additional 12 ATCOS were set to undergo the Search and Rescue Mission Coordinators’ Training course in Nairobi, Kenya before the end of the year.
“To enhance ATCOS capacity to handle data generated at their own work stations, 15 ATCOS are to be trained in ATC Data and Statistical Management,” he added.