Prof. Sani Marshi, Director-General, Nigeria Metrological Service (NiMet), has said that the achievements recorded in the aviation sector has made it a pacesetter to other African countries.
Marshi made this known on Tuesday in Abuja while presenting the International Standards Organisation (ISO) 2015 certifications for its compliance with international best practices to the Minister of State for Aviation,
According to Marshi, Nigeria has recorded a giant stride to be the first African country to have met the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) and the World Metrological Organisation (WMO) for quality management system.
He said that at the just concluded Ministerial conference of ministers in charge of handling matters related to metrology at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Nigeria was given a loud ovation after presenting its situation reports.
He said that Nigeria can be proud to now show other countries in the continent the way.
Marshi said that Metrological services are very important ingredients of the aviation sector because no matter how certified an airport or aircraft is, once there are no favorable weather, flight operations cannot take place.
“In line with that, we in the ministry of aviation have given the Met. services sector that urgent necessary importance it deserves.
“The two bodies that are regulating the activities of Met agencies in the world, the ICAA and the WMO made it clear that any Met agency in the world that is supposed to be offering services must be certified by the International Standard organisation.
“We set the ball in motion, did all we are supposed to do, put all the necessary infrastructure, met all our requirements and then we invited the auditors from the ICAA and WMO.
“They came to Nigeria and they looked at what we had and as a result of this, they have issued the certificate to us.
“By this, it means we are now certified by the two bodies to be offering best services in the aviation sector,” Marshi said.
Receiving the certificate, Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika commended the NiMet DG and other Chief Executives in the Aviation sector for moving the sector forward.
He said that the International Certification of NiMet as well ad the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos are inline with President Muhammadu Buhari’s mission of securing the country and boosting economic development.
Sirika said that NiMet’s certification was a huge one as the only agency to achieve the 9001 certificate in Africa p, which is a pride to Nigeria.
He explained that both certifications would increase the value of the nation’s airports and boost economic activities.
“Our mission and vision inline with Mr President is to ensure that our institutions are working very well, strong, efficient and dynamic and to make them better for tomorrow
“Once that is achieved, it means we are managing the country well. Strong institutions will definitely beget a strong nation.
“Our intent is to create this strong viable and sustaining institutions that are good enough to take our industry out of the woods and begin to do things standardised as provided for by the ICAA, the world regulator of Aviation,” Sirika said
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the NiMet received the certification in March and is valid until 2020.
