October 08, (THEWILL) – A renowned industry expert and former Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, will on Wednesday, chair the conference organised by the regulatory authority to chart a new course for the aviation industry.
NCAA is organising the conference in line with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo’s five-point agenda, to brainstorm on key issues that will chart a new course for the sector.
Reflecting the Minister’s five-point agenda of enhancing safety regulations, supporting local airline businesses, improving infrastructure, developing human capacity and optimising revenue generation for the Federal government, NCAA in this conference is focusing on repositioning the industry for financial capability and economic viability.
The conference will deliberate on how to reorientate the aviation industry to focus on economic viability by reviewing policies to reflect such objective and also to enhance financial capability, while reinforcing safety and security in air travel.
The theme of the Conference is “Repositioning the Nigerian Aviation Industry for the Financial Capability and Economic Viability: An Inclusive Regulatory Dialogue.”
The 1-day event is slated for Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at the Radisson Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, by 9:00 am.
Renowned industry stakeholders are billed to speak at the conference, bringing their wealth of experience to carve a new path for the industry.
Three keynote speakers will present papers at the conference and these include Dr Jekwu Ozoemene (FCIB), who will present the main paper on Sustainable Growth in the Nigerian Civil Aviation and Air Transportation Sector: Regulatory Imperatives.
Dr Jekwu, who is the lead speaker, has over 25 years’ experience in banking and finance, consulting and in the development space. Dr Jekwu is currently providing executive leadership to a financial institution in the country.
Jekwu is a Fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB), the highest honour in banking in Nigeria. He is also a Nominee Non-Executive Director for two leading Development Finance Institutions: The Netherlands Development Finance Company/FMO and Oikocredit International. He represents the FMO on the board of Business Partners International Africa LLC “BPIA”, with subsidiaries in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Malawi and Namibia), an SME focused Risk Finance Company, where he serves as the Chairman of the Board Audit and Risk Committee and a member of the Board Human Resources Committee.
He also represents Oikocredit International on the board of Ghana’s largest and leading fintech, Zeepay Ghana Limited (operating in over 20 countries), where he serves as the Chairman of the Board Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee and Chairman of the Board Strategy, Finance and Investment Committee.
Jekwu is also an adjunct of faculty, Strategy and International Business at the Lagos Business School (LBS) Pan-Atlantic University, He is a former MD/CEO of Access Bank Zambia and DMD of Access Bank Rwanda.
The second paper titled, Leveraging Global Aviation Business Finance Mechanism: A Reminiscence of the Cape Town Convention, will be delivered by Dr Emeka Okengwu.
Dr Okengwu is an ex-student of Government College, Umuahia, and has a (B.Sc, MiE and PhD) in Political Science, Entrepreneurship Studies and Development Economics from the Universities of Nigeria, State University New York and ITTL-Doctoral Research Centre, Nigeria and the United States of America respectively.
Dr Okengwu was a paper presenter at the Sharing Global Experiences conference at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC in 2006. He was the Business Development Consultant Nigeria Airforce Holdings 2006- 2009. He was the country representative of Denel Aviation South Africa in Nigeria 2009- 2011.
Okengwu was member Federal Ministry Committee on the Removal of disabled aircrafts in Nigeria 2012. He was member Federal Ministry Committee on the Review of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Policy 2012.
The third keynote speaker, Mr Olusheyi (Sheyi) Ogunleye, will deliver a paper titled, Harnessing the Opportunities in Global Aviation and Air Transportation System for National Economic Growth and Development: Inclusive Regulatory Dialogue.
Mr Ogunleye is a former United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Representative and Attache to West Africa. In this role, he served as the principal regulatory and aviation security liaison to 13 African countries, all US air carriers and as aviation security adviser to US ambassadors in the region. With over 28 years of aviation security, regulatory and anti-terrorism experience, Mr Ogunleye is a true and tested expert in his field.
With a career spanning over 19 years with the foremost aviation regulatory and security agency in the United States – the TSA – Sheyi has been privileged to serve in several leadership and executive roles domestically in the US and internationally, to include roles as the Federal Security Director for Screening Operations in Houston Texas, Deputy Federal Security Director for Regulatory Operations in San Francisco California, and Program Analyst at the TSA headquarters in Virginia, to mention a few.
Mr Ogunleye also served as the Assistant Vice President for Airport Security and Airport Security Coordinator for the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the second busiest airport in the world. Prior to his US federal career, Sheyi worked in Ground Operations for Southwest at the Oakland International Airport.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), will welcome participants at the conference and others expected include airline operators, aviation handling company operators, suppliers, senior officials of aviation agencies, labour unions and other stakeholders who will make their contributions and brainstorm on the issues under discussion.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
