NSIB: Erstwhile Landlord Returns To Lagos As A Tenant
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Brazen impunity: The headquarters of the bureau brought to rubbles without any consequence
The obvious lack of oxygenated thinking in a seemingly smart decision three years ago, which led to the demolition of the N5b ultra-modern edifice that housed the headquarters of the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, has come to the fore.
This was evident when the South West Regional Office of the bureau was recommissioned last Friday.
The second coming of NSIB to Lagos is now as a tenant in a rented but modest office complex, situated within the Murtala Muhammed Internal Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Mr Festus Keyamo, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, commissioned the bureau’s regional office, which is still very close to the former built-up edifice demolished by the former Minister, Sen Hadi Sirika.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Safety Investigation Bureau, NSIB, Capt Alex Badeh Jr., urged the federal government to increase its funding of the bureau to enable it to fully accomplish its mandate, such as the construction of befitting edifices as offices and laboratories that are to be furnished with the state of the art equipment.
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, while speaking at the regional office being reconstituted lamented the hollow excuse given for the demolition of the former state-of-the-art office complex and laboratory, by the past administration at the aviation ministry, Abuja.
Festus Keyamo thus lamented, “A functional office owned by the NSIB was demolished for no reason. That was very sad”.
He added that the Lagos regional office came into reality through the drive and resilience of the DG, Alex Badeh Jr. who employed his guts and vast network to make sure the Lagos office came to reality.
The Minister said should there be the need for accolades, all should go to Badeh Jr., and his management crew who made it happen should earn the encomiums.
Speaking further Keyamo said, “We had no choice but to make this happen, and all the accolades should not come to me but to the DG of NSIB for his drive and passion for this agency, which has propelled it forward.
Commenting on the new regional office, the minister enthused, “This looks good; I thank you and all the other directors here present.”
CAPT ALEX BADEH’S SOLICITATION TO STAKEHOLDERS….
However, Bade Jr. made a passionate appeal to agencies of government affected by the new act that established NSIB, to comply with the aspect of the act which mandated concerned transportation agencies to pay a fraction of their revenue to NSIB.
The NSIB helmsman declared thus, “The non-compliance with the Act of 2022 that established NSIB, has the potential to undermine safety which the federal government and NSIB can ill afford.
Hence, the DG called out the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, to remit without further delay, the statutory fraction of their revenue to NSIB as demanded by the law.
Badeh announced that the NRC and NIMASA had consistently failed to remit the statutorily required percentages of their declared revenue to the NSIB.
He explained that such failure to effect adequate remittances will in turn adversely affect the bureau in delivering on its mandate.
The mandate he summarized as the efficient and effective conduct of comprehensive multi-modal accident investigation, which ultimately would impact on safety of all multimodal transportation in Nigeria.
However, the Minister, Festus Keyamo assured the DG and the industry stakeholders at large that very soon, the behind-the-scene efforts of the ministry would come to fruition.
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Lamentations that a befitting edifice building of NSIB was demolished by the immediate past aviation minister Hadi Sirika is uncalled for. Hadi Sirika should be sanctioned for his dastardly actions. He should be brought to trial for his inordinate crimes against the development of aviation industry in the country.