Nigeria’s airspace at risk as radar system becomes obsolete — NAMA MD
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has warned that the country’s airspace surveillance system is at risk due to the deteriorating state of its radar infrastructure.
Farouk Ahmed Umar, managing director of NAMA, raised the concern during a briefing in Abuja with Mahmoud Adam Kambari, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development.
Umar said Nigeria’s Total Radar Coverage (TRACON) system, which provides nationwide air traffic surveillance, has become outdated, with ageing equipment and growing difficulty in sourcing spare parts.
He noted that modern aviation radar systems typically have a lifespan of about 10 years, but Nigeria’s system, which began deployment in the late 2000s and was completed around 2010, has been in decline since about 2014 as other countries upgraded to newer technologies.
According to him, the situation poses a serious risk to the continuity of air navigation services and could undermine compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards if urgent upgrades are not carried out.
The TRACON project, commissioned in 2001, was designed to provide full radar coverage of Nigerian airspace. It consists of nine radar stations operated by NAMA in partnership with Thales Group, using both primary and secondary surveillance systems to track and manage air traffic.
Umar warned that many components are now obsolete and no longer supported by manufacturers, leaving critical systems without backup parts. He added that this increases operational vulnerability and threatens uninterrupted surveillance coverage.
He also highlighted other challenges facing the agency, including insufficient funding for safety-critical infrastructure, rising operational costs driven by foreign exchange pressures, a 30 percent deduction from internally generated revenue, manpower shortages, and limited technical training opportunities. He further pointed to mounting debts owed by airlines and some state-owned airports.
Umar also said that aviation charges have remained unchanged for years despite rising costs, noting that fees per flight operation have stayed at N11,000 since 2008, making them increasingly unsustainable.
He stressed that significant operational expenses are also being driven by fuel costs, particularly aviation diesel and petrol.
In response, Kambari reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to supporting aviation agencies and improving coordination across the sector. He called for regular high-level meetings between aviation leadership and agency heads to address systemic challenges.
He also pledged attention to staff welfare, timely promotions, and improved operational safety standards to boost morale and efficiency.
Kambari added that the ministry remains committed to aligning Nigeria’s aviation sector with global ICAO standards and urged agencies to improve performance in future assessments.