Nigeria Faces Airspace Surveillance Crisis -NAMA
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Farouk Ahmed Umar, has warned that the country is on the verge of losing its ability to track aircraft due to the “obsolete” state of the Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria (TRACON) equipment. Commissioned in 2010 with a projected ten-year lifespan, the multibillion-naira system has now far exceeded its operational utility. Mr Umar revealed that the agency is struggling to source spare parts for the outdated technology, which lacks necessary backups. Without urgent intervention, Nigeria may soon be unable to provide air navigation services that meet International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.
TRACON is the primary tool used by Air Traffic Controllers to identify the location, altitude, and heading of aircraft. The current system, maintained in partnership with Thales of France, relies on a combination of primary and secondary surveillance radars across nine sites. However, global aviation technology began migrating toward more advanced systems as early as 2014, leaving Nigeria’s infrastructure increasingly isolated. The NAMA chief noted that most components are now functioning without any redundancy, creating a single point of failure that could blind the nation’s airspace.
Financial constraints are at the heart of the agency’s inability to modernise. Mr Umar pointed to a lack of federal budgetary provision for “safety-critical” projects and the high operational costs exacerbated by the naira’s devaluation. Furthermore, the 30% automatic deduction from NAMA’s internally generated revenue by the federal government has left the agency unable to meet its core obligations. This fiscal squeeze is compounded by significant debts owed to NAMA by domestic airlines and state-owned airports.
The personnel required to operate and maintain this aging equipment are also in short supply. NAMA currently lacks the technical manpower to meet the increasing demand for air navigation services, while a paucity of funds has stalled essential training for existing staff. This combination of failing hardware and overstretched personnel creates a precarious environment for aviation safety. The agency is now calling on the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development to prioritise a total system overhaul before a critical failure occurs.
While NAMA continues to insist that there is currently “full radar coverage,” the margin for error is shrinking. The agency’s partnership with Thales is meant to ensure real-time tracking, but without the capital to purchase modern components, the partnership’s effectiveness is limited. The system’s deployment, which began in 2008, was intended to revolutionise Nigerian air safety. Today, that same system threatens to become a liability if the transition to next-generation technology is delayed any further.
The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Aviation has been briefed on the situation, marking a formal request for emergency funding and policy shifts. If the federal government does not exempt NAMA from revenue deductions or provide a specific intervention fund, the risk of a “safety breach” in Nigerian skies will remain high. In a region where air traffic is steadily increasing, the cost of an invisible airspace far outweighs the price of a technological upgrade.