The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has raised the alarm over increasing cases of aviation fuel contamination and poor adherence to standards by players in the sector. NCAA raised the alarm on Thursday during an aviation stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja. It said that Max Air’s Boeing 737-300 aircraft failed to take off from the Yola Airport in Adamawa State on July 7 because its main tank was filled with water.
Octavus, a company run by children of Nigerian socialite, Bola Shagaya, has denied that it supplied contaminated fuel to Max Air. SaharaReporters on Tuesday exclusively reported that the airline had confirmed that it got contaminated fuel from Octavus Company which eventually led to the grounding of its 5N-MHM aircraft and sanctions by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). SaharaReporters on July 13 reported that Max Air ceased its domestic operations indefinitely following the suspension by NCAA.
Max Air, a Nigerian private airline, has confirmed that it got contaminated fuel from Octavus Company which eventually led to the grounding of its 5N-MHM aircraft and sanctions by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). SaharaReporters on Tuesday obtained an internal memo from Max Air dated July 9 and signed by Mubarak Haladu, the Head of Maintenance which addressed the source of the “fuel contamination.”
In view of the rising insecurity in Nigeria, what is your advice to the government?
Nigeria’s problem is not from today, we all have to understand that. The feeling that there is somebody in power now and he is doing badly and we want to change him is not from today. The foundation has been bad. During General Yakubu Gowon’s regime, he commissioned a Peugeot Plant in Kaduna and another plant in Enugu. All these were investments that we hoped would provide jobs for people. When last have you heard that a factory was opened anywhere? You can drive around Ilorin and all the warehouses you will see, were once factories. When these factories were closed, so many jobs were lost. We have a lot of work to do in Nigeria and our population is growing at an alarming rate. We are just manufacturing children, no jobs. It is scary and before we know it, Nigeria’s population will be about 300 million people.