Sometime in May 2016, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA,
issued a press release prohibiting
the unauthorized use or flying of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or remotely
piloted aircrafts (RPAs) otherwise commonly known as
drones. Compared to global standards, the NCAA guideline for registering and
obtaining a drone licence in Nigeria is byzantine, suffocating and inadvertently
stifles innovation. How do we explain a situation where it costs thousands of
dollars (some say
nearly $4,000) to register or fly a drone in Nigeria whereas it costs just $5
to do the same thing in the United States of America? Repressive regulatory
agencies have a way of smothering competitiveness, entrepreneurship and
startups in Nigeria. This is one the reasons Nigeria is consistently ranked
very low on the ease of doing business index.
Uses of UAVs/RPAs/Drones
Drone
technology is one of the innovations revolutionizing the way we hitherto did
things. The deployment of drones cuts across: military application
(surveillance and counterterrorism attacks), security and safety monitoring
(there is self-flying security guard drone developed by United States-based Aptonomy
and a similar one by Secom) to medical and emergency services (drones
are poised to carry emergency blood supplies in Rwanda), border/immigration
control, humanitarian services, aerial mapping and photography, agriculture, wildlife
conservation, internet services (Facebook is developing solar-powered drones
capable of delivering internet services), courier or postal delivery (Amazon, DHL),
amongst others.
Below is NCAA's press release titled:
“NCAA ISSUES SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR DRONE
OPERATORS”.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has taken cognizance
of the growing requests for the use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) leading
to its proliferation in Nigeria and has therefore issued safety guidelines
accordingly.
In recent times, RPA/UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are being
deployed for commercial and recreational purposes in the country without
adequate security clearance. Therefore with the preponderance of these
operations particularly in a non – segregated airspace, there has to be
proactive safety guidelines.
The development of the use of RPA nationwide has emerged with
somewhat predictable safety concerns and security threats. The International
Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is yet to publish Standards and Recommended
Practices (SARPs), as far as certification and operation of civil use of RPA is
concerned.
NCAA has therefore put in place Regulations/Advisory Circular to
guide the certification and operations of civil RPA in the Nigerian airspace.
This is contained in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs 2015
Part 8.8.1.33) and Implementing Standards (Nig.CARs 2015 Part IS.8.8.1.33).
Therefore no government agency, organisation or an individual will
launch an RPA/UAV in the Nigerian airspace for any purpose whatsoever without
obtaining requisite approvals/permit from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority
(NCAA) and Office of National Security Adviser (NSA).
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) wishes to reiterate
that all applicants and holders of permits to operate RPA/Drones must strictly
be guided by safety guidelines.
In addition to the foregoing, operators must ensure strict
compliance with the conditions stipulated in their permits and the requirements
of the Nig.CARs. Violators shall be sanctioned according to the dictates of the
Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs). END
The implication of this is that the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority, NCAA, expects EVERY drone operator (both commercial and private or
recreational users) to apply for and obtain permission or licence before flying
a drone. Requiring that drones be registered or license obtained isn’t necessarily
a bad move but the other conditions are effing stringent.
In addition to requiring prospective drone operators to submit
potpourri documentations, the NCAA stipulates that a publication in the
official gazette be made, a security clearance must be obtained possibly from
the Office of the national Security Adviser or the State Security Service and
payment of an annual utilization fee (N100, 000), payment of a non-refundable
N500, 000.00 (five hundred thousand Naira) processing fee. (Bank Draft made
payable to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority).
The drone registration process in Nigeria is anticipated to commence
six months before permits are necessary. Given the inherent bottlenecks, this means
it could take up to a year to sort the paper work out.
Details
of the drone registration process in Nigeria:
PUBLICATION IN THE
OFFICIAL GAZETTE
The NCAA will in the process of carrying out the technical
evaluation of the application cause the notice of application to be published
in the Official Government Gazette, the fee of which shall be borne by the applicant.
SECURITY CLEARANCE
No person shall operate an aircraft in Nigeria without security
clearance issued by the Government. Applicants duly completed Personal History
Statement (PHS) forms and other relevant documents will be forwarded by the
Authority to the Ministry responsible for Aviation for purpose of security
clearance. The Directors of the company are expected to report at the
Headquarters of the State Security Service in Abuja for documentation.
VALIDITY OF PERMIT:
The validity of a drone permit shall be three (3) years.
ANNUAL UTILIZATION FEE:
Upon receipt of PAAS, an annual utilization fee of N100,000.00
shall be paid to the NCAA.
The Way Forward:
No doubt that NCAA’s safety concerns are well grounded and
well-intentioned. It is also understandable that drones could be a security
threat and all that but all of these are not sufficient reasons to impose
byzantine rules, requirements for flying drones in Nigeria. The NCAA should
categorize drone users into say, two groups: commercial and personal or
recreational, depending on the capacity of the drone. You don’t ask someone who
uses a basic drone for photography or shooting movies to pay thousands of
dollars to register a drone that he or she bought for less than $500. Granted
the scenarios and threat dynamics are quite different, the NCAA should take a
cue from global best practices and particularly the United States which boasts
a relaxed drone licensing guideline. In addition to charging about $5 to
licence a hobby or recreational drone, the United States Federal Aviation
Authority, FAA, stipulates inter alia that, registration should be done online
via the FAA website (very streamlined process), drone users must be at least 13
years old, registration is valid for three years.
Written
by:
© Don Okereke
(Security Junkie/Analyst/Consultant,
Ex-serviceman, Writer)
Follow me on Twitter: @donokereke
September, 2016
