Group Honours Safety Investigation Bureau DG

An anti-corruption group, the Nigerian Youth Against Corruption and Transparency Initiative has honoured the director-general of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Engr Akin Olateru with the “Integrity and Anti-corruption Ambassador award.”

Presenting the award at the bureau’s headquarters, in Abuja, the group coordinator, Engr. Abdul Malik Usman, said the award is in recognition of the transformation and developmental strides the Bureau has witnessed under his leadership.

He said members of his group decided to confer the award on the bureau’s director-general in recognition of his contributions to the development of the nation’s aviation safety through rapid transformation of the Bureau to emerge as one of the best accident investigating bodies in the world.

He said, “Our organisation is very proud of the transformation and developmental strides in the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) which cannot be over-emphasised. Your unrelenting dedication to a corruption-free society, contribution to nation building, among others, called for appreciation and recognition and to this end, we decided to honour you with this award.”

Reacting to the award, Olateru, who appreciated the members of the organisation for recognising his modest contributions to aviation safety through the investigation of occurrences and timely release of reports along safety recommendations, said the government, in recognition of the roles played by the Bureau, signed into law the NSIB Act 2022 for the expansion of its mandate and  scope as a multi-modal agency to  investigate not just air accidents and incidents, but maritime, railway and any other modes of transportation across the country.

Olateru said the reason behind this, is to ensure transparency and objectivity in the investigation of occurrences.

He said, “There are three legs to any transportation system. You have the service providers, you have the regulators, and then, the investigators. During occurrences, sometimes it could be the regulators that might have caused the reason for the occurrence. That is why you can’t be a regulator and the investigator all together.”

The bureau was established in 2006 according to him, and had done its best under his leadership since 2017 when he became its head.