By Chinelo Obogo
The Managing Director, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Olubunmi Kuku, has pledged to continue the aviacargo project started by her predecessor, Kabir Yusuf.
She said this when she met the coordinator of the Aviacargo Roadmap Committee, Mr. Ikechi Uko, along with some FAAN staff at the weekend.
She said the cargo sub-sector was a major focus of her administration, adding that every effort to enable Nigeria improve, especially in exports, will be supported by FAAN.
“I am excited to see that a lot of work has been done by the Committee. We shall support you to make this work. Bring the plans and we shall make it happen. I want to see good plans for execution. I am ready to approach any official or organisation to make this possible. I have ideas of what can be done but I will want to work closely with the committee,” she said.
The coordinator of the Aviacargo Roadmap Committee presented a brief report of the work carried out and outlined the reason for the project, the field trips to airports in Nigeria, Nairobi, Addis Ababa and Accra.
He told her about the Cargo Bill of Rights and the plan to turn unknown goods to known goods at the Aviation Cargo Village, adding that the final report will capture new Standard Operating Procedures for operators and Service Level Agreement for regulatory agencies at the airports.
This, he said, will deliver a new template for the management of air cargo in Nigeria.
He thanked her for the support and promised to brief her regularly on progress made.
In August last year, ex-FAAN MD, Yusuf laid the foundation of the first Aviation Cargo Village in Nigeria at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The structure will sit on 2.7 hectares of land and is expected to aid cargo processing, documentation, packaging and laboratory services; all geared towards boosting export.