Founder of the defunct ADC airlines, Capt. Augustine Okon, has blasted the Federal Government for ‘neglecting’ the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility built 17 years ago by the Akwa Ibom State government.

?Capt. Okon who was the keynote speaker at the 40th anniversary conference of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) in Uyo with theme: “40 Years of Working for Sustainable Aviation Safety”, said that at the time when states were not allowed to build commercial passenger airports, Akwa Ibom took the bold step of building a special purpose airport, one with aircraft maintenance at its core.

He said the MRO was completed in 2007 but that almost two decades later, it is still waiting to be furnished and patronized.

“An MRO is not generic. Its equipment must be tailored to specific aircraft types. That is where Federal Government support and airline off taker patronage is required. Akwa Ibom State has invested more than any stakeholder in aviation maintenance infrastructure in Nigeria. Yet the project lies idle, while the Federal Government continues to talk about a “National Hangar” a project it has chased in circles since the 1970s.

“The solution is right here. Partner with Akwa Ibom. Complete the Ibom MRO. Bring it up to international standards. Save Nigerian airlines billions in foreign maintenance. Create jobs for our members and make Nigeria a regional hub for aviation services.

“I urge the organizers of this conference to arrange a visit for all participants to the Ibom MRO. Go there. See it and weep for the enormous idle asset. Then resolve that NAAPE will be its champion, its chief marketer, and its advocate until we breathe life into it. Because this MRO can be a game changer, not only for Akwa Ibom, but for all of us,” he said.

Okon said the establishment of Ibom Air is a testimony to what can be achieved when excellence is prioritized over mediocrity.

“Ibom Air has redefined punctuality, safety, and service in Nigerian aviation. Its impact is not just in passenger confidence; it has elevated the reputation of Nigeria’s domestic aviation.

“The state’s investment in Ibom International Airport, and its willingness to engage in MRO facilities, speaks to a strategic understanding of aviation as a driver of economic growth. NAAPE must recognize Akwa Ibom as a partner in this journey of aviation development.”

Also speaking on how NAAPE began, he said the birth of the association in 1984 was not accidental but was born out of necessity in the face of adversity. He said at that time, he had the privilege of serving as President of the defunct Airline Pilots and Flight Engineers Association.

Following a strike and the subsequent proscription of that association by the military government, Okon said there arose an urgent need to protect the professional integrity, welfare, and voice of pilots and engineers. ?

“It was in that crucible of struggle that NAAPE was conceived, an association dedicated to giving pilots and engineers a lasting platform to engage with industry, government, and the larger society,” he said.

?Okon further stated that in the early 1980s, the military government, through the Adebiyi Tribunal, restructured Nigeria’s industrial unions from over 1,000 “mushroom” unions into 42 industrial unions and associations.

Among them, he said, was a shell association created for airline pilots and engineers. “At first, it was empty. The real association at that time was the Airline Pilots and Flight Engineers Association of Nigeria, rooted in Nigeria Airways.

But when that association embarked on a strike to resist the abuse and decline of Nigeria Airways, a strike that led to the dismissal of 47 pilots and its eventual proscription, the shell union suddenly became the only legal home. And so, in 1984, NAAPE came into being,” he said.

At that time, Okon said Nigeria Airways was the national carrier and the pride of the nation but that it was also beset by corruption, ticket and boarding pass racketeering, delays, bureaucracy, and military interference.

He said: “I recall my own personal experience in Nigeria Airways. In 1982, I was appointed Fleet Captain of the Fokker-28 fleet, the entry-level jet fleet, with eight aircraft and seventy-two pilots under me. That made me part of management. But a few meetings were enough to show me I was in the wrong place.

?”All our aircraft were young and newly acquired. Yet instead of maintaining them they developed faults or were due for scheduled maintenance, management preferred to ground them and lease foreign aircraft with foreign crews to operate domestic flights. At one point, half our fleet was grounded. That was unacceptable.

“I resigned in protest. I shaved off my afro, the reigning hairstyle of the 80s, in a symbolic act of rejection. To many pilots, that action said: here is someone willing to lose a little hair rather than lose his integrity. That protest earned me the respect of my colleagues, who soon after elected me Secretary, and later President, of the Airline Pilots and Flight Engineers Association of Nigeria.

?This is the history that gave birth to NAAPE, born in turbulence, shaped by principle.” (The Sun)