HISTORY, CHALLENGES, AND PROSPECTS OF AVIATION INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA: A LEGAL OUTLOOK

Abstract

This article examined the history, challenges and prospects of the Nigerian aviation industry. From antiquity, there has been a gradual progression of the means of transportation, that is, the actual and unhindered movement of people or goods from one physical location to another. While land and water transportation - as old as civilisation, have facilitated economic growth through trade and exchange, air transport appears to be more exclusive, novel and the fastest means of transportation. Upon attaining independence, Nigeria saw a need to negotiate her own air service contract and create a government-owned national carrier, Nigeria Airways Limited, which failed, unfortunately. A call for efficiency in the air transport system is necessary. The paper employed the doctrinal research methodology to examine the challenges in the aviation industry. Consequently, an analysis was made on the apparent setbacks to achieving safety and a viable business climate in the industry. The paper found that in Nigeria, compromised standards by aviation institutions, absence of synergy amongst domestic carriers, poor airport infrastructure, bad weather and inadequate weather stations, insufficient human resources, capacity building, and remuneration of airport personnel, paucity of passenger-driven policies and passenger education, and technicalities of judicial remedy, are mitigating factors against keeping with current international best practices. Therefore, there is a need for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority to heighten safety standards, the National Assembly to amend section 7(1) (k) of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency Act 2022, and for the Federal Government to give aviation agencies unhampered liberty to exercise their oversight functions.