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National Assembly considers aviation local content bill

By BusinessNews Staff on June 10, 2014

The National Assembly is considering a local content bill for the aviation industry.

This bill, when passed, will ensure that airlines operating in the country employ a certain number of indigenous pilots and engineers in their companies.

A statement on Sunday in Lagos quoted the Senate President, Mr. David Mark, as saying this during the presentation of 127 pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers trained by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta.

According to the statement, Mark, who was represented by the Senate Deputy Leader, Mr. Abdul Ningi, said the National Assembly was worried about the high rate of expatriates working in the Nigerian aviation sector, adding that it was not a healthy development for the sector.

The statement quoted him as saying that the proposed bill was part of efforts to deepen local participation in the aviation sector where there had been an influx of expatriates as pilots, aircraft engineers and other aviation professionals.

He also commended the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Hon Kingsley Kuku, whose office is in charge of the Presidential Amnesty Programme for former agitators in the Niger Delta from which the pilots and engineers were trained.

He said the National Assembly would continue to support the Presidential Amnesty Programme for the training of youths in the country in order to close the gaps in manpower needs in the aviation industry.

[Punch]

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