The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has expressed willingness to support Nigeria on Aviation Security, capacity building, employment and internship as well as the establishment of Aerospace University.
Sen. Hadi Sirika, Nigeria’s Minister of State for aviation made this known after a meeting with Dr. Fang Liu, ICAO Secretary General, on the sideline of the just-concluded ICAO Aviation Security Week which took place in Montreal, Canada.
The Minister appreciates Mr. Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu, ICAO President and Dr. Liu for the expression of support for aerospace development in Nigeria.
Security of global air transport operations took an important step forward with a series of new agreements and recommendations being forged during the 2018 ICAO Aviation Security Week.
More than 500 delegates representing 107 countries and 22 international organizations participating in ICAO’s Second High-level Conference on Aviation Security (HLCAS/2) finalized recommendations for new security standards and strategies to be reviewed by the 40th ICAO Assembly next year. These recommendations were reflected in the HLCAS/2 Communiqué endorsed by the high-level delegates in attendance.
Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, President of the Council, highlights the importance of information sharing and that the present threat environment is more dynamic, diverse, and challenging than ever before. He tasks HLCAS/2 participants with defining security measures which are effective, efficient, operationally viable, and economically sustainable, recognizing as well the important need to assess the impacts of any considered measures on air transport’s much more prevalent low-risk passengers.
Areas of focus he stressed in this regard included threats from insiders and Remotely-piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) attacks, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
“Our message to the world could not be clearer,” underscores ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu in her closing remarks to the conference. “ICAO, its Member States, the industry and our other partners are addressing the threat to civil aviation with great determination, ambition, and unity of purpose.”
She also focus on the importance of striking an effective balance between the effectiveness of security measures and their impacts on the air transport customer base, noting that “from the consumers’ standpoint, it is nothing short of vital that we address security risks with solutions which pose a minimum of passenger or shipper inconvenience. Any other approach will not be sustainable.”