Aviation Minister Bags ICAO’s ‘No Country Left Behind’ Initiative Award

Chinedu Eze

Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika has been recognised and honoured by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the Champion of the No Country Left Behind initiative which the Organization introduced in 2014.

The recognition and award which was bestowed on the Minister at the ICAO 41st General Assembly in Montreal Canada, comes in the wake of other awards Nigeria has received from the organisation since the inception of the Buhari administration.

According to the President of the ICAO Council, Salvatore Siacchitano, the award on Sirika was in recognition of his sterling contributions to the implementation of the initiative, not only in Nigeria but also other member-nations.

The ICAO President also said Nigeria has remained the only country whose Minister has attended three consecutive assembly meetings as Chief Delegate with quality contributions at all the sessions and further commended the Minister for ensuring that the country’s representatives at ICAO since his assumption of office are not only highly experienced professionals but also committed to the ideals of the organisation.

In his response, Senator Hadi Sirika expressed his appreciation for the award, saying that the recognition was not for him as an individual, but for Nigeria as a country, and particularly President Muhammadu Buhari whose commitment and support for the aviation sector since he assumed office has been top-notch.

He also dedicated the award to all the past and present individual Nigerians whose contributions to the sector remain indelible, and also those who have worked with him since becoming the Minister of Aviation and ensured the successes recorded.