The House of Representatives on Thursday warned pilots and crew members against flying under the influence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances capable of altering their moods.
The House specifically directed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to conduct regular pre-flight tests on pilots to be sure that they are not under any influence of any substance.
A member, Mr Taofeek Adaranijo, brought a motion before the House to raise the alarm over cases of pilots being under the influence of alcohol.
He said pre-flight alcohol consumption, apart from being a breach of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations, also constituted a serious safety threat to passengers.
The lawmaker recalled that since 2016, the NCAA had been recording cases of alcohol and substance consumption by air crew members, an indication of a growing trend.
He stated, “In December 2016, the NCAA suspended the medical certificates of five members of the crew, who tested positive to marijuana during a drug screening conducted on participants of the Cabin Crew Training Basic Course at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, Kaduna State.
“When the NCAA in May 2017 conducted random tests on 87 personnel from Air Peace, Med-View and Air Traffic Controllers of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency as they were about to embark upon flight operations and air traffic control duties, a member of the crew tested positive to a psychoactive substance, Tetrahydrocannabinol.
“The substance is known to be the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects.
“Psychoactive drugs work by manipulating the synapses in-between nerves in the central nervous system, thereby distorting thought processes and causing a variety of side effects such as anxiety, psychosis, mood swings, depression and sleep problems, all of which are not suitable for the job demands of pilots/members of crew.”
Adaranijo noted that to fly to safety, “a pilot or member of crew requires the highest level of sobriety and clear headedness,” adding that the “use of alcohol or psychoactive substances endangers the lives of passengers on board an airplane.”
The motion, which was passed in a unanimous voice vote, also asked airline operators to “diligently ensure that only sober pilots/members of crew are allowed to fly their planes and this diligence should extend to the initial period of employment.”
…to ensure quick passage of AMCON amendment bill
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, Jones Onyereri, stated on Thursday that the House would work with the Senate for a quick passage of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria’s amendment bill to ensure that the agency gets all needed support from the National Assembly to meet its mandate.
This is coming one week after the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions called on President Muhammadu Buhari to issue an Executive Order on seizure of assets of persons who are indebted to AMCON.
Onyereri, who was addressing his colleagues in Kano at the opening of a three-day retreat, said given the sunset date of AMCON, which he stated was created by the government not to operate in perpetuity, the National Assembly, the executive and the judiciary must ensure that the bad debt manager meets its obligation within the expected and acceptable timeframe.
He stated, “Earlier this year, we had a public hearing and a technical session on the AMCON amendment bill. The report on the bill is out and will soon be presented before the House. This shows our commitment to ensuring that AMCON gets all the support it can get from the National Assembly in carrying out its mandate.
“This bill is very important and we promise to work with the Senate in ensuring a quick passage of the bill. As we are all aware, AMCON was not created to exist in perpetuity. There is a sunset date for AMCON and it is expected to have achieved its mandate before the sunset date. Therefore, and more importantly, we are here to interact with AMCON to see how we can further help in making sure that it achieves this mandate for the common good of the country.”
According to him, the lawmakers are happy that AMCON, as an interventionist institution of the Federal Government, especially under its present management, has performed above board, but is worried that the corporation is often constrained by institutional and legal stumbling blocks that have continued to hinder it from achieving optimum results, especially since public funds were used to buy the loans that helped prevent the collapse of the financial institutions from which the debts were bought.
As a matter of public urgency, he stated that the corporation needed to recover the money, just as there was a need to sensitise the courts to the need for speedy resolution of AMCON cases.
In his remarks, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, AMCON, Mr Ahmed Kuru, who stated that the corporation needed support at this critical time in its life, informed members of the committee that the debtors were getting bolder by the day and employing all kinds of tricks to tie AMCON up in court.
He stated that AMCON had over 3,000 cases in different courts across the country with obligors who had the means to pay, were still doing business with other names, but had refused to pay what they owed.
According to him, having achieved remarkable milestones in the last seven and half years of its creation, AMCON is willing to deliver even more if given the needed support by all key stakeholders such as the legislature, the judiciary and the executive.
Source: Punch
