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| Eng. Saleh Dunoma, Managing Director/CEO FAAN |
Being at the top of his career has not changed his simple
character and his quiet demeanour. Engineer Saleh Dunoma, Managing Director/CEO
of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) appears to let his work
speak for him. And so it was recently when he was honoured with the highly
coveted National Productivity Award by the President, Mohammadu Buhari. Dunoma
appears to share the character traits of simplicity and personal integrity with
the President.
It would also have surprised many Nigerians that the
country’s newspapers were not full of congratulatory messages to Engr. Dunoma
on the announcement of the award to him, not because he does not deserve it,
but because it reflects his quiet and simple disposition to life.
Yet Dunoma is a
very hardworking professional, as attested to by the well deserved award of the
National Productivity Award for the year bestowed on him by Mr President, based
on the recommendation of the National Productivity Centre of Nigeria.
Indeed last year, he also received the award as the 2014
best emerging airport – Africa region at the 4th Annual Emerging Airports
Conference and Exhibition in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates quietly.
To those who know
him or work with him, Engr.Dunoma is a man of high personal integrity. He would
rather let his handiwork and performances speak for him than blow his own
trumpet.
Dunoma, a civil engineer was appointed Managing Director
of FAAN in March, 2014 following a reshufflement in the Management of the
Authority where he was until then, the Director of Projects. Since then, he has worked hard at providing
leadership duties expected of him; to enable FAAN, discharge its services at
international standards. He has done this in a very professional and
unobtrusive way, such that he has been able to carry along various stakeholders
in the country’s aviation industry.
Last year, Engr. Dunoma rightly recognised that one of
the biggest challenges facing the industry was to ensure that the ongoing
upgrade and construction of new airport facilities round the country were done
to specification and at highest professional standards. Thus, Dunoma set to
work, along with his lieutenants at FAAN, working tirelessly to push forward to
completion the ambitious aviation construction projects.
Another big challenge was making sure that our country,
Nigeria retained the Category One recertification of our airspace and airport
facilities by the US Federal Aviation Authority, FAA, after the recertification
exercise.
Indeed, even before he became the chief executive of the
government agency, he had been the FAAN’s points-man in the supervision of all
these high priority aviation projects.
The Ahmadu Bello University-trained civil engineer had
been appointed FAAN’s Director of Projects in 2012, a critical position which
gave him direct supervisory responsibility over the ambitious Airport
Re-Modelling Project involving at least, 22 federal airports round the
country.
A consummate team player and dedicated professional,
Dunoma has spent over three decades in FAAN, a period which has afforded him
the opportunity to become an expert in various aspects of aviation facility
management, especially in the key areas of security, safety, infrastructure
development and maintenance.
Dunoma started his aviation career in the Civil
Engineering Dept of FAAN in 1980 and rose through the ranks to the zenith.
But even with his
appointment to the top job, Dunoma has remained simple and unassuming,
preferring to motivate his lieutenants and staff of the aviation agency to
deliver top performance in their onerous duties to the country.
Dunoma recently announced that FAAN would soon start an
intensive training of aviation security, airport rescue personnel and fire-
fighters. He said the strategy is geared towards promoting safety, security and
airport excellence, according to ICAO standards.
Only last week during the airlift of the last batch of
Muslim pilgrims at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, he
inspected the ongoing construction of the new terminal where he expressed
confidence that the terminal will further expand the potential of the ancient
city as a hub of commerce and industry.
The FAAN helmsman
was also recently at the annual general assembly, conference and exhibition of
the Airport Council International (ACI) which held in Panama, a fortnight ago.
Dunoma, who was a panellist at the event, emphasized the great prospects of the
Nigerian aviation industry to a body that accounts for 590 regular members
operating 1,850 airports in 77 countries.
For his diligence in service and hard-work, Engr.Dunoma
has received several awards notably, the Distinguished Service Award for
Aerodrome Rescue & Fire Fighting Services, Airport Excellence in Safety
Award by the Airports Council International (ACI) and a Merit Award of the
Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE amongst others.
Dunoma, the
simple, quiet achiever and highly experienced aviation technocrat continues to
inspire the men and women he works with at FAAN and beyond, while he keeps his
eyes firmly focused on the job at hand.
Yakubu Dati writes from Lagos
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