The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has commended the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for expanding professional training across its workforce, describing the country’s aviation regulator as one of Africa’s leading civil aviation authorities due to its growing investment in staff development.
The commendation came from ICAO’s Director of Capacity Development and Implementation Bureau (CDI), Fabio Rabbani, during the ongoing 11th ICAO Africa-Indian Ocean (AFI) Aviation Week in Cairo, Egypt, where aviation regulators, policymakers, and industry leaders are meeting to discuss the future of air transport across the region.
Rabbani credited the NCAA’s Director-General of Civil Aviation, Capt. Chris Najomo, with placing capacity building at the centre of the agency’s regulatory reforms through partnerships with ICAO, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and other internationally recognised aviation training institutions.
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According to him, the sustained investment in human capital has strengthened the authority’s technical competence and positioned it among the continent’s most respected aviation regulators.
He added that ICAO looked forward to expanding its collaboration with the NCAA to further improve Nigeria’s regulatory oversight and institutional capacity.
The endorsement comes at a time when African aviation regulators are under increasing pressure to strengthen safety oversight, keep pace with evolving global standards, and develop highly skilled personnel capable of regulating a rapidly changing industry.
Nigeria’s aviation sector has also faced continuous demands for stronger regulatory supervision as passenger traffic increases, new airlines emerge, and airport infrastructure expands.
Responding to the recognition, Najomo said improving the quality of the NCAA workforce is one of his administration’s major priorities since assuming office as Director-General.
He explained that the authority had deliberately widened access to professional training by including junior and middle-level officers rather than concentrating opportunities on senior management staff.
Najomo said, “We need to catch them young and train them in order to make the Authority better equipped to carry out its oversight functions.”
The DGCA disclosed that while previous training programmes largely focused on officers on Grade Level 14 and above, the current policy now extends structured capacity development to employees from Grade Level 10.
Industry observers have repeatedly identified manpower development as one of the pillars of effective aviation regulation, arguing that regulators must continually update technical knowledge to keep pace with changing international safety, security and operational standards.
The AFI Aviation Week, which runs from July 27 to July 31, provides a platform for African aviation stakeholders to review regional safety performance, strengthen cooperation and promote the implementation of ICAO standards across member states.
The NCAA has in recent months intensified efforts to improve regulatory efficiency through staff retraining, enhanced oversight programmes and closer engagement with international aviation bodies.
ICAO’s latest endorsement is expected to reinforce confidence in those reforms as Nigeria seeks to consolidate its position as one of Africa’s leading aviation markets.
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