By Nurat Uthman
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has restated its commitment to supporting air cargo
Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku, who spoke during a meeting with the enlarged membership of the Aviacargo Roadmap Committee, said air cargo was of importance to the President Bola Tinubu administration.
The organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ikechi Uko, in a statement made available to Vanguard that Kuku commended members of the committee for their passion and perseverance to accomplish their objectives.
The statement reads: “The Roadmap Committee was set up in December 2022 to provide a roadmap to grow Air Cargo in Nigeria from the 5th position in Africa to number one on the continent. There have been three changes of the Chief Executives at FAAN within 12 months, with Mrs Kuku taking over in December 2023. These changes disrupted the project, as all meetings ceased until the team at FAAN settled in. Within this period, FAAN implemented some of the suggestions made by the Committee by creating a new Directorate of Cargo Development and services.
“These changes at FAAN led to recent meetings between the committee and the directorate to streamline the activities between the two of them. The coordination of the Directorate and the Committee led to the enlarged meeting with the MD of FAAN and her team. Among the outcomes of the meeting today is the launch of a pilot project of exports through 4 selected airports.
“There will be a trial run of perishables export from harvesting at the farm through the Lagos Airport in a timeline of less than 24 hours. There will be another trial run of cereals through the Kano Airport. There will also be a trial run of exports through the Enugu Airport. The last trial run will be from Jos Airport.
“These trial runs are to test the effectiveness of the Air Cargo Pathway developed by the Roadmap Committee. The trial runs will involve the stakeholders of the air cargo ecosystem. Other agencies of government including NEPC, NAFDAC, SON, NAQS, NDLEA, and Nigerian Customs, will all be involved in the pilot projects. A sub-committee headed by a NAQS representative was set up to strategize and fast track the implementation of the trial runs. The subcommittee was given two weeks to submit a report.
“The MD commended the members of the Roadmap Committee for their passion and perseverance to stay on course thus far and encouraged them to fasten the speed of the project now that FAAN has reinforced its support for the project. She received the team along with FAAN Directors of Special Duties, Director of Legal Services, and the Director of Cargo Development and Services. The Roadmap team included members of the lead team and representatives of NAQS, SON, NAGAFF, Link Global, NAHCO, and ANLCA.”
