Nigeria: Insecurity - Senate President David Mark Wants VIPs, Air Travellers Frisked

Abuja — SENATE President David Mark said, Monday, that if the country must witness rapid economic growth and meet its Vision 20:2020, there was urgent need for an overhauling of the aviation sector.

The Senate President said against the backdrop of insecurity in the country, airport officials must subject all travellers including VIPs to thorough check, adding that while outside the country, everyone irrespective of status must remove shoes and made to go through other checks.

Mark, while inaugurating the Senate Committee on Aviation, called for thorough improvement of the nation's airports, arguing that the nation's airport are incomparable to those in South Africa and other parts of the world.

Seven committees were yesterday inaugurated of the 56 that were set up last week. Also inaugurated were Rules and Business chaired by Senator Solomon Ita Enang, Senate Services headed by Senator Suleiman Adokwe, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions headed by Senator Ayo Ademola Adeseun as well as Nigerian Air Force headed by Senator Saidu Ahmed Alkali.

Mark charged the new committees to work towards justifying the confidence reposed on them by the Senate.

He said: "With the current terrorism and overall security challenges threatening the nation, there is the urgent need to beef up security at the airport as well as ensure that there are no sacred cows in the laws guiding passengers. With the current terrorism and security threats, increased security at the airport is imperative. Everybody should obey the law to avoid disaster."

Charges Aviation c'ttee

Charging the Senate Committee which has Senator Hope Uzodinma to work towards upgrading of facilities of airports across the nation for airline operators to adopt international best practices, the Senate President also frowned at the importation of fairly- used aircraft into the country, adding that Nigeria must not be dumping ground for old craft.

He said: "Aviation industry requires total overhauling. We are not talking about the operations of private airlines, that is their problem. If an airline is not operating on schedule, that is its problem but there are fundamentals that government is responsible for.

"No airport is up to standard in the country. Even the Murtala Muhammed Airport has problem now, few things work and few others don't work. You can then imagine what happens at state airports. None is worthy to be called an airport. Even the one in Abuja is also having one problem or the other."

Mark stated that the difference between developed and the developing nations is the ability of the developed nations to discover issues of urgent attention and go ahead to effect corrections, adding, "but we always operate a fire brigade approach here".

Also speaking on the College of Aviation, Zaria, Kaduna State, the Senate President, who recalled that the institution which was the oldest in Africa, is beset with poor and obsolete facilities, adding, "It should be better than private aviation school because it is a federal institution."

Also inaugurating the Committee on Agriculture, Mark who called for the repositioning of the sector to make it one of the highest revenue earners for the country, however stressed the need for mechanised farming and other enhanced farm implements rather than statistics that do not impact on the lives of rural farmers.

According to him, with the calibre of Ministers and members of Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development chaired by Senator Emmanuel G. Bwacha, if the nation fails to improve the sector, it might be very difficult to do so in future, adding, "We should be able to take agriculture to a higher level with the kind of Minister and the Minster of State we have in Agriculture.

The members of Committee also have practical experiences. So, if we cannot make it in agriculture now, we may never again with the calibre of people we have in the sector now."

Seven committees were yesterday inaugurated of the 56 that were set up last week. Also inaugurated were Rules and Business chaired by Senator Solomon Ita Enang, Senate Services headed by Senator Suleiman Adokwe, Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions headed by Senator Ayo Ademola Adeseun as well as Nigerian Air Force headed by Senator Saidu Ahmed Alkali.

Mark charged the new committees to work towards justifying the confidence reposed on them by the Senate.

Speaking while inaugurating the Committee on Airforce, Senate President Mark who called for staff welfare as well as proper funding of the sector considering its capital intensive nature, stressed that for efficient Air Force, efforts must be made to train and retrain staff while their welfare should be considered top priority.

According to him, "If we want the best from the men and women of the Nigerian Air Force, we should look after their welfare so that when they want to put their lives on the line, they would not have a second thought."

Speaking before the inauguration of his Committee, Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Solomon Ita Enang who pledged the readiness of his committee to ensure a near uniformity and standard in the Standing Orders of both the Upper and Lower legislative chambers, stressed that he will achieve this through regular conferences and seminars with all the Houses of Assembly across the country.

According to Enang, "This may be a further step towards deepening democracy while the study of legislative procedure may be pursued in our secondary and tertiary institutions."

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Airforce, Senator Sa'idu Ahmed Alkali Committee on Nigerian Air Force has assured of the committee's resolve to device an action plan that will help review legislations relating to the Air Force with a view to repositioning it to make it function more effectively and efficiently.

According to him, "We shall in the course of time engage and dialogue with the Nigerian Air Force to determine the status of their operation fleets with a view to making them serviceable and functional."

Also speaking on expectations from his Committee, Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha noted that the Committee will examine some of the enabling laws guiding the operations of parastatals within its jurisdiction with a view to reviewing them as well as make them more effective.

He also promised to ensure that the Committee will help in boosting agriculture by ensuring that laws of international standards were put in place as well as engage stakeholders through dialogue in ensuring food security and rural development.

Conflict

According to him, "the significance of this inauguration is remarkable as it signals the beginning of a critical assignment for us as custodians of the people's right to quality public service. We will recognize the pivotal role of agriculture in national economic growth and development, its potential multiplier effects that permeate the entire society especially at rural areas.

"Our task is to see how we can effectively contribute to converting the huge opportunities within the sector into meaningful development that touches the lives of Nigerians."

In his remarks while inaugurating the Committee on Banking, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu urged the Committee to ensure that rural banking was encouraged as that will help carry those in the villages along, adding that banking loans must be friendly to the manufacturers and those in Agriculture.

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