By Obasola Olatunde
The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, has called for deeper collaboration between the judiciary and the aviation regulator to enhance understanding and enforcement of contractual laws governing the nation’s aviation sector particularly the Cape Town Convention on aircraft equipment.
Najomo made the appeal on Wednesday evening at the grand finale of the International CTC Moot Court Competition held at the Federal High Court, Abuja, an event organised by the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development in partnership with the NCAA, with support from the Aviation Working Group (AWG).
Represented by Captain Donald Tonye Spiff, NCAA’s Director of Operations, Licensing and Training, Najomo explained that effective implementation of the Cape Town Convention has already positioned Nigeria more favourably before international aircraft lessors and investors.
“The adoption and implementation of the Cape Town Convention have placed Nigeria in a stronger and more credible position within the global aviation business community,” he said, stressing that partnership with the judiciary would ensure consistent interpretation of aviation related contracts.
He added that the objective of the Moot Court programme was to familiarise law students, academics and members of the bench with the provisions of the Cape Town Convention through simulated court cases based on real world contractual scenarios.
Najomo recalled that before Nigeria’s adoption of the CTC, many aircraft manufacturers and leasing firms were reluctant to transact with Nigerian airlines because of uncertainty over contract enforcement. The domestication of the treaty, he said, has boosted the country’s credibility and signalled readiness for responsible participation in global aviation commerce.
“Through the commitment of the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN), Nigeria is now in the good books of international aviation organisations. This programme shows that our nation is open for transparent business,” Najomo added.
The CTC comprising the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (2001) and the Protocol on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment is a key international legal framework that protects the rights of aircraft lessors and lenders.
The Moot Court competition, introduced in Nigeria for the first time, drew participation from 18 universities across the six geopolitical zones. The University of Benin and the University of Lagos qualified for the final round, which was adjudicated by a three member panel of Federal High Court judges Justices Binta Nyako (who presided), Joyce Abdulmalik, and James Omotosho.
At the end of the contest, Osauyi Temiloluwa Agbonwaneten of the University of Benin emerged Best Advocate, followed by Adedayo Michael and Falotan of the University of Lagos, while Bawi Toluwaleyi Testimony placed fourth.
The Secretary General of the Aviation Working Group and Co Director of the CTC Academic Project, Mr Jeffrey Wool, expressed delight at the successful hosting of the inaugural Nigerian edition of the competition.
He described the CTC as “an economically vital international treaty” whose practical simulation through moot-court exercises provides the judiciary and students with hands-on exposure to the complex legal issues governing aircraft financing and leasing.
Wool further revealed that the Federal High Court had recently issued a practice direction to guide the handling of CTC related matters in Nigerian courts an important step, he said, toward aligning domestic judicial processes with international aviation standards.
The event, attended by legal luminaries, aviation regulators, academics and students, was widely praised as a landmark effort to bridge the gap between aviation practice and judicial interpretation an alignment seen as crucial to sustaining confidence in Nigeria’s aviation business environment.