NAMA Engineering Director, Terese Ihenachor, Bags APWEN Outstanding Public Service Award
Oru Leonard
The Director of Safety Electronics and Engineering Services at the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Terese Ihenachor, has received the Outstanding Public Service Award from the Lagos Chapter of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN).
The award was presented during the maiden APWEN Lagos Engineering Summit 2026 in recognition of Ihenachor’s contributions to engineering excellence, the empowerment of women engineers and sustainable professional development.
According to the citation by APWEN, Ihenachor was honoured “for her outstanding commitment to engineering excellence, empowerment of women engineers and sustainable professional development.”
The summit brought together professionals and stakeholders to celebrate women whose leadership and contributions are advancing engineering, innovation and efficiency in public service.
Ihenachor made history in December 2023 when she became the first female substantive Director of Safety Electronics and Engineering Services at NAMA.
Since assuming office, she has provided strategic leadership for the maintenance, modernisation and reliability of the agency’s Communications, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management infrastructure across the country.
Under her leadership, NAMA’s engineering directorate has recorded progress in the upgrade and deployment of critical communication, navigation and surveillance facilities required to support safe, efficient and seamless flight operations within Nigeria’s airspace.
She has also strengthened maintenance regimes for safety-critical systems, improved technical planning and operational coordination, and prioritised the timely calibration of navigational aids to ensure their accuracy, integrity and compliance with applicable international standards.
A notable demonstration of her operational leadership was the recent deployment of a Mobile Control Tower at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, following a fire incident that affected critical air-ground communication infrastructure at the old terminal.
The rapid deployment helped ensure continuity of safe air navigation services at Nigeria’s busiest aviation hub.
Under Ihenachor’s technical supervision, the facility was tested and adapted to Nigeria’s operational requirements through local innovations, including a smart flight-strip system and seamless connectivity with NAMA’s Centrex and Total Radar Coverage of Nigeria systems.
The agency has also commenced arrangements for the deployment of another mobile control tower to support Runway 18R.
Ihenachor joined the Nigerian civil aviation sector in 1994 and has risen through various technical and managerial positions, including General Manager, Workshop, Planning and Logistics, before her appointment as Director.
She is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Nigerian Institute of Management.
A former Secretary and Treasurer of APWEN, Ihenachor is also the founder of the Girl-Child Engineer Initiative, an initiative aimed at promoting greater participation of girls and women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Her latest recognition further highlights her contribution to engineering leadership, aviation safety and the advancement of women professionals in Nigeria’s technical and public-service sectors.
