Air Peace Captain Debunks Report Saying Aircraft Landed Without Tyres

 

Simisola Ajibola, the captain who operated the Air Peace flight on July 23, which had nose wheel collapse, has debunked reports, saying the aircraft landed without tyres.

 

She said the incident, which took place at the international runway of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, happened after the aircraft touched down.

 

“We had a very serviceable aircraft. Our aircraft are machines that are well maintained. It wasn’t the first flight of that day. When we flew the aircraft it was perfectly in good shape.

 

“The report about initial landing without tyres is not true. The incident happened after we touched down.  I didn’t go into the air without tyres, we weren’t on a decent without tyres. Some reports say we called for emergency while in the air and that is not true. It was after we landed we asked for emergency services. So whatever happened, happened on the runway that day,” Ajibola added. 

 

However, Tunji Oketunbi, corporate communications manager, Accident Investigation Bureau, (AIB) said the bureau has begun investigation into the issue and will come up with preliminary reports soon.

“It is a cumbersome process. Some components have been retrieved from the airline to help with the investigation. So it will take some time but we are doing everything possible to ensure the report is out sooner than expected,” Oketunbi added. 

 

SON Seizes N38m Worth of Substandard Galvanised Roofing Sheets

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has stormed a ware house in Ogba area of Lagos to clamp down on a dealer who imports and produces substandard galvanised roofing sheet into the country.

The Director General, SON, Osita Aboloma, represented by the Director, Inspectorate and Compliance, Engr. Obiora Manafa, said the move was to serve as a deterrent to unscrupulous importers and manufacturers who indulge in illicit trade, saying that there is no hiding place for substandard goods in the country.

Recall that the agency recently seized over N200 million worth of substandard aluminium roofing sheet in Uyo.

Manafa added that the seized galvanised roofing sheet in Lagos  is worth over N38 million, adding that SON will stop at nothing to ensure that only goods that conform to the Nigeria Industrial Standard (NIS) are allowed to thrive in the Nigerian market.

He explained that the roofing sheets fell below the NIS 180 standard for galvanised roofing sheets which stipulates the minimum thickness for roofing sheet to be 0.15mm.

In his words, “The objective is to evacuate substandard roofing sheets from the market. We are moving all of them away for destruction. The task force were given a term of reference, but the overall mandate is to eradicate substandard products from the Nigerian market. The roofing sheets are substandard, because if you look at the standards for galvanised roofing sheet NIS 180, it stipulates the minimum thickness for the product and the minimum thickness is 0.15mm, but most of the galvanised roofing sheet we have here fall below the standard and this is what we do not want to allow into the Nigerian market.”

He said going forward, SON would go through every nook and cranny of the country raiding markets, warehouses, adding that the aim is to protect unsuspecting consumers while also adding value for hard earned money spent on purchasing goods.

“If you use this kind of roofing sheet for your structure, any little wind would destroy it and this is what we do not want to encourage. So, we are appealing to all Nigerians especially importers and our local manufacturers also to stick to the NIS 180. We have valued this one to be around N38 million and we are still going to seize more. This campaign is ongoing to continue in the country. We are appealing to everybody not to waste their money buying substandard goods, because if you continue dealing with this product, SON will seize and destroy them. We are not happy we are destroying these products because it is a loss to the economy, but we have to protect Nigerians which is our primary responsibility,” he said. 

We want consumers to have value for any money they spend on buying products. Some of these substandard were imported and manufactured locally and we are seizing all of them because they failed to meet the specific requirement of the NIS. For aluminium sheets, if the standard is below 0.4, we will seize and destroy them. We are doing all of this to safe the local producers of quality goods and we also do not want these unscrupulous people bringing in this product to underprice our local manufacturers and if this happens, they will not make money and lay off their workers. This is why we are fighting tooth and nail to eradicate substandard goods in the country,” he stressed.

He said the seized goods where smuggled in because they do not have SONCAP certificate, saying products such as this must not come into the country unchecked.

“Our Independent Accreditation Firms (IAFs) who we appointed to do inspection activities on our behalf must have tested them and ensure that they comply to the standards. Even if they beat us at the port, we will go after them in the markets and warehouses to look for them. Right here in the warehouse, we have conducted a lot of test on these products, we have our micrometer screw gauges which we use to check the thickness. 

We cannot do this alone, this is why we work with sister agencies and intelligent surveilance units to gather information about how to get these products before they enter into the countr,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Coordinator, Surveillance Intelligence and Monitoring Unit (SIM), Suleiman Isa, said the goods would be destroyed and recycled, pointing out the enforcement exercise would be a national activity.

“We have succeded in loading the substandard products and we are about to take them to our warehouse. The next line of action is destruction and recycling which will be determined by the management of SON. 

This is going to be a national activity and it is going to be happening on a continuous basis. We are also using this opportunity to advise all importers and even the local manufacturers to ensure that they meet the minimum requirements of the standards for these products. Failure to do this, their products will be seized and destroyed,” he said.

“We have been carrying out sensitisation programmes to enlighten people on the dangers of substandard products, but the issue is that people go for inferior products because of the price and at the end of the day the cheap products are not cheap, but expensive,” he stressed. 

 

SON, Customs Bicker Over Products Examination At Ports

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has stated that the directive by the Federal Government that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) should always invite it for the daily cargo examination at the various terminals at the nation’s sea-ports, has not been compiled with.

Indeed, stakeholders interested in the matter have urged SON to take the matter up with to the federal government, adding that the refusal by NCS to carry along SON during inspection of products at the ports affects the ease of doing business mantra of the federal government.

This has reportedly led officials of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to continually lay ambush for containers that have already being cleared out of the ports and released by the customs. Already, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has expressed shock at the development, noting that the action has led to the incessant stoppage of containers on the highways,

The LCCI, through its Director General, Muda Yusuf, noted that it was improper for the operatives of SON to be intercepting containers on the highways on account of some fees or charges that have not been settled by importers.It also argued that “where there were outstanding charges to be paid to SON or issues about SONCAP compliance, such matters should be dealt with before the container leaves the port”.

Justifying its action, SON had alleged that the Nigeria Customs Service has failed to invite its personnel for examination of containers, hence its decision to intercept containers after they are released at the ports.

An official however told The Guardian that, SON has been permanently shut out of the statutory cargo examination. He equally denied that SON had seized any container after inspection on the highways.The public Relations Officer (PRO) of Apapa Command of Customs; Nkeiruka Nwala, a Deputy Superintendent of Customs had defended the agency’s action saying the service cannot invite the Standards Organisation of Nigeria for cargo examination, because SON is no domiciled in the ports.

Nwala said that for cargoes that require the Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme (SONCAP) certificate, men of the Nigeria Customs Service have always demanded that from importers, even before duties on the cargoes are collected.

She said: “SON is not domiciled in the ports, it’s just like saying that items that require end-user and then you say that the officials at the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) that customs should be inviting them”

“If they (importers) have any document they are supposed to provide from such before cargo examination, they go to SON on their own, it has nothing to do with Customs. If they are importing items that require SON certification, they go on their own to get the certification.

“So if you don’t have it (certification), we will send you back to SON. So the work of SON is not about examination, it is product certification. So customs cannot be inviting SON; for what? It is a certification and documentary thing”, she insisted.

According to her “But if for any reason SON now have an import that they suspect the certification process or anything, all they need to do is to send a message via the NICIS 2 platform and notify that they have interest in a container that is it.”

“If an importer or his agent imported an item that requires SONCAP, we all have a list of items that require SONCAP we only ask the importer to bring the certificate, they are part of the documents you must provide”, she explained.

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has however advised the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to report the Nigeria Customs Service to the Vice President, if the service fails to invite them for examination of cargoes at seaport.

According to the Director General of LCCI, Yusuf interception of containers on the roads would affect ease of doing business policy of the federal government urging the organisation to report the NCS to the Vice President who is in charge of implementing the policy ease of doing business at the seaports