The Nigerian government has assured Nigerians that a new national air carrier will soon commence operations.
This announcement was made by the newly appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Abubakar Kana, during a handover ceremony organized by the ministry.
Kana highlighted the establishment of a national air carrier and the revitalization of airports as key objectives, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the aviation sector.
On his part the former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence said that his statement was premised upon President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in the aviation sector, promising that he would give unreserved support to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo in the actualization of Nigeria national carrier as well as upgrade of the airports across Nigeria to international standard.
“Resources are scarce, we need to embrace the private sector to support Nigeria’s Aviation industry”, he maintained that he believed in doing new things and appealed to all the agencies of the Ministry to support the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola.
The outgone Permanent Secretary, Emmanuel Meribole, expressed gratitude to the Ministry and all Nigerians for the opportunity to contribute to the nation’s development.
He said that Civil Service is a continuum and stated that his exit from the Service would not stop the growth of the Aviation Ministry, urging the staff to extend the collaboration and teamwork which he enjoyed to the new Permanent Secretary.
“No man is perfect, but I have always wished to leave a place better than how I met it, and I believe I have done that”, he said.
Meribole commended the administrative acumen of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, and appealed to the stakeholders in the aviation industry to remain resolute to ensure Nigeria’s aviation sector becomes the best in Africa.
Earlier, while delivering their valedictory speeches, the Director of Finance and Account in the Ministry of Aviation, Udechukwu Osakwe, described Meribole as a man who believes in Service delivery and competence while the Registrar, of African Aviation Aerospace University (AAAU), Mustapha Sheikh Abdullahi, speaking on behalf of heads of agencies of the Ministry, described Meribole as a man of integrity that respects meritocracy.
Speaking also at the event, the Director of legal services and S.A to the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Barr Odugbesan, described Kana as a Bureaucratic Soldier whose leadership style has brought a lot of development in the Ministry of Defence and many other Ministries he piloted.
While admonishing the aviation family to work with Dr Abubakar Kana, Barr Odugbesan said the new aviation Permanent Secretary was a man who liked to develop talents and was passionate about the welfare of the staff.
The climax of the event was the signing and handover of the Ministry’s strategic documents, assets and liabilities documents to the new Permanent Secretary.
