Eight years after, aviation agencies board members constituted 

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate constitution of the boards of aviation agencies.
This is coming almost a decade of running the agencies without boards.

The approval which was one of the last assignments of Buhari as President came through his Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika.

The Federal Government since the inception of the Buhari administration failed to inaugurate boards of the six aviation agencies despite that their Acts made the boards mandatory.
The agencies are the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the recently created Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
The boards were constituted in the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari but their inauguration was stalled because the composition then was said not to be in line with the Acts establishing the agencies.

But a statement issued on Sunday by the Ministry of Aviation said that Buhari had approved the composition of the boards.

The statement signed by the Head of Press and Public Affairs in the Ministry, Odutayo Oluseyi indicated that the NCAA would be chaired by Mr Lai Are with two institutional members representing Ministries of Aviation and Defence.

FAAN would be chaired by Capt. Fola Akinkuotu with five institutional members representing the Ministries of Aviation, Defence, Justice and Tourism and NCAT while Capt. Mukhtar Aminu and Mr. Chris Aligbe are members.

NAMA has Capt. Bashir Sodangi as Chairman with four institutional members representing Ministries of Aviation, Communications and Digital Economy, Transportation and Nigerian Air Force as well as two other members to represent public interest. They are Mr. Richard Aisuegbon and Suleiman Balarabe Ismail.
The NSIB would be chaired by Engr. Ezekiel Danboyi Zang with six other members including Engr. Suraj Abdulwahab, Engr. Ita Awak, Mall. Nasiru Anas, Alhaji Sani Maida, Engr. Pantani Esugo and Lawrence Fubara Anga, SAN.
Dr. Imoro Kubor is to chair the NiMet Board with four institutional members representing Ministries of Aviation, Agriculture and Natural, Resources, Environment and Transportation with Dr. Adebayo Yinka and Prof. Aliyu Umar Tambuwal as members.

And lastly NCAT would be chaired by Capt. Jonathan Ibrahim with institutional members which include Ministry of Aviation, NCAA, Nigeria’s ICAO representative; Representative of the aviation sector, Engr. Bashir Saad; Hajia Binta Aminu Iya representing community; Representative of the College elected from the congregation who should be a non-teaching staff and the college registrar.

The statement added, “It should be noted that, in line with the recently promulgated and gazetted Acts of the Agencies, membership of their Boards are mostly institutional representations. The President therefore considered the requirements in approving the memberships and hopes that they will play the necessary roles in furthering the development of the sector as a new administration takes over.”

Tina Turner, a rock icon, was also Jaguar cars lover

Rock and Roll icon Tina Turner who died on Wednesday May 24 at her home in Switzerland at age 83, left many legacies behind beyond just her epic music career.

She was an automobile enthusiast too, owning and loving premium cars throughout her life.

“One of my favourite escapes was driving my Jaguar,” she wrote in her autobiography.

She became one of those celebrities who had one of the biggest influences in the car world.

Turner always found solace in automobiles, notably her white Jaguar XJ6, which she received as a gift from Sammy Davis Jr.

The late icon’s Jaguar XJ6 and a Jaguar E-Type gave her a much-needed taste of freedom, car.com.au notes in a report.

According to the Nation World, Tina Turner’s love for high-performance luxury cars began way back in 1971, when Sammy Davis Jr. got a Jaguar XJ6 as a special gift in the name of sport. The car had a 4.2-litre inline six-cylinder engine, delivered a power of nearly 250 horsepower and offered 384 Newton-meters of torque.

Another Jaguar car, XK-E, was gifted to her by her ex-husband and musical collaborator, Ike Turner.

The XK-E bore a “1 Tina” licence plate and became a point of contention during the couple’s divorce in 1978, according to a report by Car & Driver, an online auto reviewer.

“To my relief, the judge ruled in my favour,” Turner wrote in her 2018 autobiography, My Love Story.

“So I walked out of that courtroom with just my name. Oh, and two Jaguars—cars that had been given to me personally.”

Following the divorce, Turner reinvented herself and her career out of necessity. In 1984, her album Private Dancer was released and became a huge commercial success, selling 10 million copies globally.

Turner became a regular name on the pop music charts with songs like “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “Better Be Good to Me,” and “Private Dancer.”

With her star on the rise and three new Grammy awards in her trophy case, Turner starred alongside Mel Gibson in the third instalment of the post-apocalyptic Mad Max film series, Mad Max beyond Thunderdome.

She recorded two new songs for the film, one of which netted her a fourth solo Grammy award.

She would ultimately win eight over the course of her career, with one early in her career shared with Ike for their hit song “Proud Mary.”

As her musical and film success pushed her star ever higher, Plymouth tapped Turner for a series of television commercials for its lineup of cars, including the Acclaim sedan and the Laser sports coupe, a car that won a 10Best award from Car and Driver in 1989.

While not exactly Jaguars, Turner’s love for the cars and her on-camera joie de vivre made for some compelling marketing for Plymouth.

In her trademark purr, she was pictured in the rear seat of an Acclaim saying: “Now this car is built for comfort. I wonder what else we have in common.”

Turner lived her life out loud and used music to share her personal struggles, making her a relatable rock star unlike any other.

Her automotive enthusiasm is something she cherished and shared too, even though she will be remembered mostly for her contributions to the entertainment industry.

Finally Sirika delivers Nigeria Air, plane lands at Abuja airport

The Nigeria Air aircraft has landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.
Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, disclosed this in a tweet on Friday, ending doubts about the new national carrier becoming a reality.
The aircraft was earlier in the day sighted at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia preparing to take off.

Sirika had stated that the aircraft was on its way to Nigeria in less than 24 hours.
The development however created some uproar as some stakeholders questioned the rationale behind the launch of a national carrier barely 72 hours to the end of President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
They wondered how the aircraft could fly into the country without getting an Air Operating Certificate from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority.

AON suit against new airline

Nigeria Air’s plan to obtain the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the NCAA was hindered with the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) filing a restraining order to stop the aviation regulator from issuing the certificate.

The restraining order letter dated April 19, 2023, came via lawyer representing the AON, Abubakar Nuhu Ahmed, warning the NCAA against taking action that would ridicule the integrity of the agency.