Captain Bunmi Gindeh of the National Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) has taken over the leadership of the National Association of Air Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), promising to bring in more pilots into the association, standardise the NAAPE facility, and improve welfare.
Gindeh emerged the new president of the association in an an election held on September 27 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital where he secured 51 votes to defeat his rival Francis Igwe’s 17 votes.
Gindeh praised the outgoing administration, particularly Abednego Galadima, for establishing a training institute. “I must commend my predecessor; he performed well and we owe him a lot of gratitude”, he said, promising to enhance the facility to international standards and advocate for member safety and standardised contracts.
On his campaign he noted: “There was an intensive campaign before now but we went to all the various chapters and spoke to them on why they should vote for us. We are a team. It wasn’t just me, the deputy president was the engine room of my campaign and I appreciate the work he put in.
”During the campaign, we talked about the welfare of our members and we would be pushing for standardised contracts across board like we have abroad. We are also going to advocate for safety for our members. We will also improve our secretariat so that it can be up to date.
”One of the issues that came up during the campaign was that pilots would not have the time to carry out union functions but the beautiful thing which I have learned is to delegate responsibilities to my team. We would get more done that way. I was in the NCAA but was seconded to the NSIB, so my chapter is the NSIB. The public service rule is very clear on that”.
Mudi Muhammad, an aircraft engineer at Arik Air, was elected as Gindeh’s deputy without opposition. Other key officials include Adewale Adenugba as first trustee, Edwin Udoh as financial secretary, Blessing Ahmadu as publicity secretary, and Michael Nicholas as second trustee.
Muhammad welcomed the opportunity to work with Gindeh, citing his visionary leadership.
“I want to work with Capt. Gimdeh because he has a big vision for NAAPE. The outgoing leadership has done their best and we are grateful to them. We are going to build on the foundation they have laid.
“You can see that we don’t have anything pilots in the association but he has said that his goal is to bring in more pilots”.
Igwe congratulated Gindeh and pledged to support unity, while Galadima urged the new administration to prioritise unity within NAAPE.