Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday blasted the performance of the country's aviation industry and said his government will invite expatriates to manage the sector if necessary.

In an address to the ministers and heads of ministries and parastatal agencies after the presentation on the performance of their establishments in 2005, Obasanjo said that he felt "gloomy" about the performance of the aviation sector.

He stressed that the aviation sector has been riddled with corruption and a lot still needs to be done.

"If care was not taken, the government would invite expatriates to manage the sector for better performance," he said.

Nigeria has a poor record of air safety with frequent air incidents such as plane skidding off runway.

The latest occurred on October 22, when a Boeing 737 airliner crashed on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, killed all 117 on board. There is still no official word on the cause of the accident.

Source: Xinhua