Can we meet you?
I am Associate Professor Ismail Adua Mustapha. I studied at the College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies, Ilorin, where I obtained Diploma in Shariah and Common Law in 1999. I also studied Common and Islamic Law at the University of Ilorin and obtained LL.B Certificate in 2004. I proceeded to Nigerian Law School, Kano Campus in the year 2005/2006 where I obtained a Bachelor of Law (BL) Certificate , and was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar in 2006. I enrolled for a Master’s Degree in Law (LL.M) at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State in 2007 and the LL.M Certificate was awarded . On the 28th of October 2008, I was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Business Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin. In 2011, I gained admission into International Islamic University Malaysia to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (Law) in Aviation Law and I was subsequently awarded in 2014. I was appointed as Associate Professor in 2021 by the management of the University of Ilorin. . I specialized in Aviation Law and Business Law. I am the sole lecturer for Aviation Law at the Postgraduate level of the Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin.
How do you feel making history as Nigeria’s first Associate Professor of Aviation law?
I always feel very proud of myself and my supervisor, Prof. AbdulGhafur Hamid (International Islamic University, Malaysia) for me to be the first Associate Professor who specialized in Aviation law. Attaining this feat is worth being celebrated.
What challenges were you confronted with on your way to attaining your present status?
Attaining a high-profile status in life and the challenges associated with it are two sides of the same coin. Thus, apart from being specialized in a novel area, like Aviation law where there is a scarcity and unavailability of materials to adequately evaluate and analyze the state of civil aviation in Nigeria, an academician who is desirous of attaining a professorial rank must cross series of huddles to achieve his desired rank, otherwise he remains static.
Among the challenges include:
Inadequacy of civil aviation law instructional materials relating to Nigeria’s civil aviation system. This is due to the fact that most Nigerian Universities or higher institutions of learning do not offer civil aviation law as a course and where it is being offered, the instructional materials are either not available at all or inadequate. This was my experience when I was at the Obafemi Awoloeo University, Ile-Ife for my Master’s Degree. Thus, this, therefore, creates a serious challenge for me while pursuing this academic rank.
Loneliness in the field of Aviation Law. Not until recently, this is another challenge for me in the field of aviation law. I found it difficult to share and interact with my knowledge of aviation law with other lecturers since it is a novel area of law that is yet to develop in Nigeria. In fact, any time I discussed it with others, they see it as a new area of law that requires serious academic research. This is true of the situation because none of the Nigerian Universities offer aviation law as an undergraduate course. Inadequate funds to pursue my PhD in Malaysia.
It is a thug of war pursuing PhD in Malaysia because of the paucity of funds. In fact, I had to obtain a loan of over N10 million to manage myself to attain the status of a PhD holder. Because a doctorate degree is one of the prerequisites to attaining a professorial rank.
What is your take on the state of the Nigerian Aviation Industry
Considering the fact that Nigeria has the largest population of the human race in Africa makes it the fastest air transport marketplace in the continent. The issue of the “State of the Nigeria Aviation Industry” as a scope is beyond operating the Nigerian airports or movement of aircraft from one destination to another. Other areas include the state of Civil Aviation Law and Regulations that guide the operation of civil aviation business in Nigeria and as well as the state of civil aviation institutions in Nigeria such as Aviation Colleges in Lagos, Zaria, and Ilorin, Kwara State examined to actually determine the true state of Nigeria civil aviation in the 21st century. From the civil aviation perspective, the historical antecedent of the country does not reflect the state of the civil aviation industry. A country that was colonized and ruled by the British for a considerable number of years before the independence in 1960 is yet to get better in the area of civil aviation matters. This is due to some self- induced challenges that are contributing to the slow development of Nigeria’s aviation system. The challenges are lack of or inadequate civil aviation experts, inadequate funding, and corruption.
Others include unstable power supply, lack of civil aviation modern equipment, inadequate implementation of civil aviation law and Regulations, and insider threats in recent times. All these have been contributing to the dwindling performance of the Nigerian civil aviation industry, thereby impacting negatively the security challenges Nigeria is facing.
For example, an act of transportation of human trafficking by air is made possible due to inadequate implementation of Nigeria’s civil aviation law and regulations. Annex 17 to the Chicago Convention 1944; Nigeria Civil Regulations 2019 and some other Aviation Security Regulations that are meant to prevent and suppress unlawful interferences with civil aviation and the movement of illicit drugs and trafficked persons are inadequately implemented in Nigeria’s aviation industry. The safe air space we are experiencing in Nigeria is a natural endowment from the Creator. The state of our aviation security relating to pre-boarding and post-boarding security is worrisome. On the pre-boarding security breach, many government officials and highly placed traditional rulers boarded aircraft without adequate and proper security checks at the security check counter of the airports. The consequences of this are that a room is given to such a passenger to travel in contravention of civil aviation security procedure when the law is “No screen no fly” on one hand and on the other hand such a passenger is given the opportunity to travel and carry the illicit drug or any of the unlawful substances.
It needs to be stated that the inability to properly implement the civil aviation law in Nigeria may be a result of a lack of modern-day civil aviation equipment. A functioning and properly implemented civil aviation law and modern-day civil aviation equipment are two sides of the same coin which cannot be separated or are very difficult to separate. The state of Nigerian Civil Aviation law is adequate to serve as the catalyst for the growth and development of Nigeria’s aviation system. However, good laws without modern-day equipment and a lack of experts in the area of civil aviation law for implementation result is tantamount to not having the law at all.
Very fundamental to the inadequate implementation of civil aviation law in Nigeria is that phenomenon that has eaten deep into the fabric of the lives of Nigerians, directly referred to as “corruption”. Despite the anti-corruption crusade, the phenomenon still increasingly persists in some government and private agencies and ministries including the civil aviation industry. Funds earmarked for the growth and development of civil aviation activities are either embezzled or diverted to cater for less important issues. Also, many officers are indulging in corrupt activities. These have been contributing to many security breaches at the Nigerian airports.
Closely related to corrupt activities in recent times is the issue of “insider threat”. This is otherwise known as insider connivance. The airport officer connived with the outsiders to perpetrate various acts of aviation security and safety breaches for consideration called money. One such activity has been reported in daily newspapers where some officers conspired among themselves to plant tramadol into the baggage of a passenger; and during the Coronavirus period, some airport health officers connived with passengers and private hospitals to obtain fake coronavirus clearance certificates.
Very recently, what appeared to be a national deceit in the aviation industry was experienced towards the tail end of the last administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Although the idea of a national carrier had been on the ground during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan but did not materialize before he left the power to the immediate former President Buhari. Then, the issue of Nigeria Air as a Nigeria national carrier was resuscitated. It is surprising that despite billions of naira voted and budgeted for the project, the end result could not justify the means in that Nigerians were only deceived with a white and green coloured aircraft having an Ethiopian national flag but with the name Nigeria Air.
In aviation legal parlance, article 17 of the Chicago Convention 1944 allows single registration of aircraft and such shall be bound by the law of the state of registration and shall carry the trademark of a state of registration. A critical look at Nigeria Air, as shown in the national television, daily newspapers, and social media, appeared not to have contravened any provisions of the Chicago Convention 1944. Because such an airline was never registered in Nigeria but registered in Ethiopia. However, what is left to the Nigerian government is the nature of criminal offence perpetrated by those who muted the idea of Nigeria Air to the former Mr. President to the extent that a leased Ethiopia aircraft was declared as Nigeria’s national carrier.
The issue of flagrant disrespect for passengers’ rights by the air carrier in the contract of carriage by air in Nigeria has become the order of the day in Nigeria’s aviation industry. Passengers’ right to adequate information on the time of actual performance of the contract of carriage is always not known to the passengers. That is why they operate in contravention of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations 2019, particularly Part 19 of the Regulations. Air carriers did operate without adequate consideration for the welfare of passengers and as well delay the performance of contracts without reasonable excuse. In fact, many passengers lost their baggage and luggage due to the negligent conduct of the air carrier. The issue of cancellation of flights without lawful reason is negatively impacting the economic activities of Nigerians. Many businessmen who are due to travel by air on business trips surfel a serious setback due to unlawful cancellation of their flights. This is a common feature of the local contract of carriage of passengers by air. The local carriers are found in the habit of disregarding the provisions of the Regulations at will.
It is observed that the attitude of some passengers is not encouraging in the event of the breach of their certain rights. In most cases, passengers remained silent as if what the airline operators did were within the confine of the law. This further gives the airline operators liver to continually perpetrate the routine ways of contravening civil aviation law and Regulations. The doctrine of “I leave it to God” is not helping and cannot help the matter. The airlines will continue to operate in flagrant disrespect for the extant civil aviation laws and regulations on the rights of passengers. Many passengers had experienced unreasonable delays and flight cancellations without lawful justification, and loss or damage to their baggage yet no action was taken against the erring airlines.
The right of the passenger to take legal action where any of his rights is infringed upon is available under the 1999 Montreal Convention domesticated into Nigeria Civil Aviation Act, 2022 (Montreal Convention 1999 as domesticated into Nigeria Civil Aviation Act) particularly, sections 17, 21 and 22 of the Act provide for the right to main civil action and award of compensation in the event of loss of life, bodily injury, damage or loss of baggage, and delay. While the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations 2019, particularly part 19 dealt with the cancellation of a flight unreasonably and without just cause. Examples of cases where the law had been applied are Cameroon Airlines v. Otutuizo; British Airways vs. Atoyebi; Cameroon Airlines vs AbdulKareem; and Harka Air Services (Nig) Ltd vs Keazor but just to mention but few. These cases were decided on the provisions of the above mentioned civil aviation law in Nigeria.
The state of Nigeria’s aviation industry in terms of the provision of uninterrupted power supply is nothing to write about. It is disgusting to experience an epileptic power supply in our airports. This is one of the reasons why our airports cannot operate at night. It can be concluded at this juncture that the busiest feature of our international airports is limited to daylight. Both the airlines and passengers have complained bitterly about the state of our airports. In fact, Aviation security officers do resort to manual security checking of passengers because of the lack of electricity to power the modern security machine. This ambivalence gives the criminals the leverage to perpetrate various acts of unlawful interference with civil aviation.
The issue of unlawful invasion of our airports by the herdsmen and their herders is worrisome. This is because many of the Nigerian airports lack perimeter fences as directed under Annex 17 to the Chicago Convention 1944 and Part 17 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations 2019. For example, in 2021 a group of herdsmen and their cows unlawfully invaded the newly completed and commissioned Anambra airport. The same incident happened at Akure and Owerri airports. In fact, the landing activity of the aircraft was delayed for the herdsmen and their herders to leave the runway of the airport. This is an indication that International Convention and it’s annexes and Nigerian law on aviation safety and security are not properly implemented.
One may conclude that the Nigerian Civil Aviation and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria did not adequately implement International and National laws and Regulations on civil aviation safety and security.
Let me digress a little bit to bring to the notice of aviation security stakeholders an unresolved security issue while on board aircraft. What I mean by stakeholders in this respect includes the airline operators, airport operators, and regulatory agencies. As part of security and safety procedures, airline operators are required to read out and/or distribute safety and security codes of conduct while on board aircraft. However, the language barrier is one of the challenges militating against the proper understanding of this code. Due to the level of illiteracy in Nigeria, many passengers do not understand the languages in which the codes or instructions are being disseminated. For instance, an intending Fulani or Yoruba man pilgrim who is on board en route to Saudi Arabia, without an iota of doubt, is definitely illiterate in the language to which the safety and security codes or instructions are being disseminated, this is ditto for somebody who understands English but not Arabic. This is a serious challenge to the proper implementation of civil aviation safety and security Regulations and Codes, especially in a multilingual state, like Nigeria.
Que: Are there new laws that can be enacted by the national assembly to further strengthen the aviation industry and make it more efficient and profitable?
Ans: The Nigerian Civil Aviation Industry does not need new laws to further strengthen its growth and development in the 21st century. This is for the simple reason that the existing laws on carriage of passengers by air, civil aviation safety and security are adequate but their implementations are grossly inadequate. What government or the NCAA and FAAN should do is adequate and proper implementation of these laws. However, in my opinion, the adoption of anti-grazing laws across the state will definitely keep the herders away from the airport. Also, it is suggested that all safety and security codes/regulations should be interpreted into the three major languages while onboard aircraft.
Que: What is your advice for the young lawyers aspiring to become aviation law experts?
Ans: To become an expert in any field is time consuming and requiring endurance and perseverance. Being a novel area of law, a lot of hard work is required in the sense that aspirer must committed to carry out research in the field of civil aviation. This can only be made possible by offering civil aviation law as a course at the postgraduate level, attending aviation seminar and conferences.
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