By Oluwakemi Adegbesan
History is being made steadily at the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau. The movement of the NSIB from the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development to the Presidency, through the March 5, 2026 Presidential approval, is beyond any administrative decision. It is courage and clear vision in action by President Bola Tinubu. It is history being made and new records being set.
Since its inception, the NSIB has been operating as a unimodal accident investigation bureau focusing mainly on the aviation sector. This arrangement made the agency to be limited in its operations and totally removed from the pedigree of its global counterparts like the American National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB and the British Air Accident Investigation AAIB, which are multimodal accident investigation bodies. However, with this new arrangement, the NSIB, under the managerial excellence of Captain Alex Badeh jr has taken its place among its counterparts around the world.
The new status of the Bureau ensures that it functions as a safety investigation body for air, rail, road and other modes of transportation. It is great repositioning for the NSIB and the entire nation. Other benefits of the expanded role of the Bureau include enhanced transportation safety, improved effectiveness, better professionalism and greater independence in carrying out safety measures in the overall interests of Nigerians. President Tinubu has scored another goal in sound decision making and patriotic considerations.
At the centre of this new national awakening is the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NSIB, Captain Alex Badeh jr. The new framework clearly places him at the cusp of history. An institution is as strong and effective as its leadership. The strings of achievements of Badeh since he assumed leadership of the NSIB are tangibly manifest. Drawing from his background as a trained and certified pilot across various aviation hubs and jurisdictions around the world, he has no difficulty in running the Bureau effectively and creditably. The quick response rate to incidents and accidents in the aviation sector since he came on board, coupled with capacity-building of his workforce, administrative ingenuity, transparency and zero tolerance for corruption, NSIB will surely acquit itself better with its expanded roles.
Transportation safety in Nigeria is an issue needing critical attention. The carnage on our roads is worrisome. Valuable lives and properties are being lost on a daily basis. In 2024 alone, road accidents in Nigeria rose to 5421 deaths. In 2023, it was 5081 and the figures keep rising due to a combination of factors including hazardous driving; speed violations, drunk driving, violation of safety rules, among others.
Even, rail accidents are rising in recent times. The expertise, exposure, professionalism and discipline of Badeh are needed to bring such troublous situations to a minimum level. NSIB, working in concert with the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, might be a big breakthrough in ensuring safety on our roads. There is so much urgency needed in breaking the jinx of road accidents that no time should be wasted in getting NSIB cracking on its new role.
Feelers from the NSIB showed that Badeh is making impressive strides but in a quiet way. This is commendable. The full-range professional turnaround of the Bureau across the country cannot be ignored. Speedy release of reports of investigation of accidents is noteworthy especially with its huge impact on preventing future occurrence. It is needful for Badeh and the NSIB to do quick need assessment of safety in both the road and rail transport modes. He already has deep grounding of the state of aviation in the country. Through this need assessment, he will be able to roll out workable modalities that will improve safety on those modes. He will also be able to build new capacities to actualize whatever desires to do to bring new lease of life to the sectors.
The National Assembly should hasten its works in amending the NSIB Act in order to give legal backing to its new role. The President had rightly directed the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Lateef Fagbemi to work with the National Assembly in this regard. The nation cannot afford any delay on this matter. Transportation safety affects every Nigerian, including our legislators. We should maximize the opportunities we have in Badeh as a thoroughbred professional in driving the new reform. Expectedly, there will be nay-sayers working to put spanners in the works. What is important is not their resistance or indifference or outright attack on the expanded role of the NSIB, the real issue is getting cracking on the new focus and we know that Badeh is more than capable to drive the change.
*** Adegbesan contributed this piece from Port Harcourt, Rivers State
