The workers of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian aviation industry regulator, are among the least paid in Africa.
This suggests that the NCAA staff will also be among the least paid among civil aviation authorities globally.
The Director General of the NCAA Capt. Musa Nuhu gave this indication in Abuja at the sidelines of the Fourteenth International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Services Negotiation event, (ICAN 2022) in Abuja.
Capt. Nuhu said based on the poor salary structure, it’s unable to attract experienced professionals for the effective oversight of the industry.
“The industry suffer the impact when we don’t have enough staff to oversight them. Several ICAO recommendations show that the CAA safety inspectors should earn the same or more than the people they are oversighting.”
He said the NCAA would have to be pulled out of the public service structure to be able to significantly improve their wages.
“But NCAA being a public service organisation is under the public service rules. We are communicating with the relevant authorities, the Ministry of Aviation, the National Assembly to see how the NCAA will be removed from the public service structure like it has been done for other regulators in Nigeria” the NCAA DG said.
“This is so that we can attract younger people, people in the right numbers and quality for effective regulation of the industry. Right now we suffer. For you to be a safety inspector, you should have flown tor 4,000 hours. No one wants to leave flying to work in the NCAA for 20 percent of the salary he or she will be earning as a pilot” he said adding that what CAA earn in other countries in Africa compare to Nigeria is mind blowing.
