Pressure is mounting for the removal of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) from the supervision of the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, as aviation stakeholders and industry experts call for its direct oversight by the presidency to ensure greater operational independence and efficiency.
The growing calls follow recent resistance from the Ministry of Aviation to a legislative amendment that proposes transferring NSIB’s supervisory responsibility to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. At a public hearing held last week by the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Aviation and Special Duties, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Ibrahim Kana, argued against the proposed change, warning that it could lead to “politicisation, diminished accountability, and disrupted policy coherence.”
NSIB, formerly known as the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), is mandated to investigate air, road, rail, and maritime accidents. Although the agency currently reports to the president through the aviation minister, critics argue that such an arrangement is limiting, given NSIB’s expanded mandate across multiple transport sectors.
Prominent among the advocates for reform is the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), a leading air transport think-tank. Its president, retired Air Commodore Ademola Onitiju, said that NSIB’s inter-ministerial functions make it better suited to report directly to the presidency.
“NSIB’s responsibilities cut across several ministries, and central supervision from the presidency would ensure its independence and effectiveness,” Onitiju stated. “Safety investigations are about fact-finding and prevention, not blame. They require impartiality, which is why independence is key.”
Echoing the sentiment, Group Captain John Ojikutu (rtd), CEO of Centurion and Safety Consults, said the NSIB’s continued placement under aviation contradicts the intent of the NSIB Act of 2022, which extended its responsibilities beyond aviation to include other transport modes such as rail and maritime.
“Since the new Act was enacted, NSIB should no longer be under aviation. It’s a multi-sectoral agency, and housing it under a single ministry undermines its purpose,” Ojikutu asserted. He also criticised the proliferation of ministries, suggesting it is driven more by financial incentives than by genuine governance needs.
An anonymous aviation analyst similarly questioned the credibility of the bureau’s influence in other sectors. “If a maritime accident occurs, would stakeholders in that sector respect NSIB’s intervention? The agency needs broader authority and technical alignment with each sector to be effective.”
The calls come amid broader scrutiny of the structure of Nigeria’s transport ministries. Some experts argue that Nigeria should consolidate its transport functions under a single Ministry of Transportation—similar to international best practices—where independent regulatory agencies are assigned to each mode of transport.
Critics say the current system encourages duplication, inefficiency, and politicisation, warning that without reform, agencies like NSIB may struggle to fulfil their mandates effectively.
As the National Assembly considers the proposed amendment, the future supervisory framework of the NSIB remains a contentious issue—one that could have significant implications for safety standards across all modes of transportation in Nigeria.
