Nigeria’s Olumide Aliu elected first African president of International Civil Aviation Organisation

He will serve for 3 years as president of the council.

A Nigerian, Olumide Aliu, has been elected as president of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council; thus becoming the first African to head the global body for aviation safety.

Mr. Aliu was elected ICAO Council president on Monday at the 38th Assembly of the organisation in Montreal, Canada. The assembly consists of 172 countries.

Nigeria joined ICAO in 1960 and was elected into the Council of ICAO in 1962 as a Part II member State. The country has since remained on the Council and has continued to promote the interest of Nigeria and Africa on the Council as well as contribute to the development and growth of civil aviation in the region.

Mr. Aliu’s victory is coming on the heels of several challenges facing the Nigeria’s aviation industry including plane mishaps, weak regulation, and corruption.

The Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, is currently involved in a car scandal in which she told the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA-an agency under her supervision- to purchase two armoured cars at an inflated cost of N255 million in breach of budget and public procurement laws.