A private company, Naebi Dynamic Services Limited, is to monitor the records of helicopter movements in and out of Nigeria and assist the country to boost Internally Generated Revenue from the sector. Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, the Managing Director, Naebi Dynamic Services, Stanley Chike, said the firm was investing in equipment to monitor activities in the aviation and oil sectors across the country. According to him, the firm is investing in a multinational control room centre, radar equipment and navigational facilities to monitor the activities in the two sectors and beyond. With this investment, Chike said the movement of low-level flying equipment like helicopters would be appropriately captured by the country, while the IGR for the government would also increase.
He explained that through its feasibility studies, no fewer than 200 helicopters are in operation in the country, while millions of naira would be saved in the country regularly.
“Before we started, I noticed some lacunas in the system. We did a feasibility study, processed it, and forwarded such to the government,” Chike stated.
He added, “After that, we had the stakeholder buy-in in the aviation and oil sectors. I want to thank the Federal Government for implementing this after passing the law.
“As we all know, aviation is a global practice, and whatever is done in one country is replicated in another, including Nigeria. The IOCs (international oil companies) will not pretend that they don’t know this is the practice that happens in their own countries.
“But we went further to ensure that after the ICAO law, it is also enshrined in our Act. So, it is a law nationally and globally. In other countries, helicopter operators are charged per weight, but here, we have a common charge irrespective of the weight.”