The federal government says it will implement the State Safety Programme (SSP) to integrate safety activities and regulatory requirements.

Capt. Chris Najomo, the director- general, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said this at the closing ceremony of the ICAO-West and Central Africa (WACAF) regional office of the African and Indian Ocean (AFI) Regional Plan -SSP in Abuja on Friday.

SSP is an integrated set of regulations and activities designed to enhance safety in civil aviation. It is required by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and unique to member states.

The SSP also ensures the effectiveness of safety performance elements and addresses identified aviation safety risks.

Mr Najomo, who said that Nigeria would provide required human and financial resources toward SSP implementation, added that the assistance mission of ICAO-WACAF had helped Nigeria to notice and implement the gaps in the draft SSP document.

“It is my utmost privilege to host the Regional Officer Safety Implementation for five days on the State Safety Programme (SSP) Mission Assistance that started on Monday and is ending today.

“Nigeria has initiated its SSP processes and has made tremendous progress towards the full implementation. Nigeria had published the safety management regulations in the Part 20 of the Nig. CARs., developed the draft document for the SSP manual.

“Also publish the draft of its National Aviation Safety Plan (NASP), several guidelines for both the industry and the CAA inspectors on the assessment and continuing surveillance of service providers’ SMS,” he said.

Mr Najomo said that Sonia Freitas, a delegate from WACAF, had reviewed the gap analysis and SSP implementation Plan that was presented by Nigeria with regards to its compliance with the state safety requirements.

“Just as detailed in Annex 19 and had provided further guidance to both the NCAA and Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NISB) on the activities it has to establish and implement to ensure full implementation of the SSP.

“The executive director, BAGASOO, Ms Jailza Sylvia, had also provided assistance on the procedures to be included in certain documentations that are required to ensure SSP implementation,” he added.

Speaking, the director-general, Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Capt. Alex Badeh, commended  the assistance mission, underscoring regional commitment towards enhancing aviation safety across Africa.

(NAN)