One-year anniversary: Aviation stakeholders praise Kuku’s transformative leadership
Abdullateef Fowewe
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s aviation sector have lauded the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Olubunmi Kuku, for her impactful first year in office.
During a celebration of Kuku’s anniversary and the December edition of the MD’s quarterly award for excellence at the FAAN headquarters in Lagos on Wednesday, stakeholders highlighted Kuku’s achievements in safety, security, and passenger facilitation.
However, the FAAN Director Special Duties, Henry Agbebire while speaking at the event said the occassion was to honour a significant milestone, that is, the attainment of one year of dedicated service by the Kuku whose visionary leadership has been been instrumental in transforming the FAAN into a model of operational excellence.
Agbebire confirmed that under Kuku’s leadership, FAAN has witnessed achievements in safety, security and passengers facilitation.
In his remarks, General Manager, of Safety, John Okezie Ekpe said Kuku’s commitment has helped to ensure that safety is prioritised at all levels of the organisation’s operations.
Ekpe listed establishment of safety culture, clear formal safety policy, regulatory compliance, adequate safety training, accountability and engagement in continuous improvement as some of Kuku’s achievements in the areas of safety.
Others who spoke on the achievements of the Kuku’s included, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mrs Obiageli Orah, Director of AVSEC, Albert Afegbai, AGM Safety OSH, Oguche Samuel Enejo equally commended the MD for the giant efforts made in such a short period.
Kuku while speaking at the sideline of the event, emphasised teamwork and thanked the government for its support, announcing ongoing improvements at airports.
Kuku also commended all FAAN’s workers stressing that she also owes the indelible experience to God, staff of FAAN, directors and the management.
She said, “It is not just the work we have done but the spirit we have done it well together. I am grateful for the sacrifices. Thank you for being the force behind the success”
“I want to give Mr President and minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development for their unwavering support that they have been given to FAAN. I want to thank our passengers for bearing with us this year. The NDLEA, Customs, NIS, DSS and others have been very engaging.
“Over the next few months, we should stand to see two things. One is the landside improvements and the other is airside improvements. For the airside, all the safety initiatives are ongoing,making sure we are rerturning our major airports to category two. In terms of actual landside and terminal equipment, we are working really around the automation and a lot of things that we have, making sure we are improving the passengers experiences, upgrading our terminal in our secondary as well as our main airports.”
While speaking on next year’s expectations Kuku said, “As you pass through the airport this festive season, you will see there are lots of improvements. The aviobridges, conveyor belts will be coming in next year. We are fully committed to providing the same level of service you get internationally.”
The event also featured awards for FAAN staff and the launch of key safety manuals, marking a significant milestone in the agency’s operational excellence.
