By Olusegun Koiki
Over six years after Sen. Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation, said that the Federal Government would establish an aerospace university for Nigeria in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, the government is yet to deliver on its promise.
This is despite the N1 billion takeoff grant President Muhammadu Buhari approved for the project in the second quarter of 2021. Also, aviation analysts have expressed disappointment in the performance of the minister who had in the last quarter of 2015 unveiled six roadmaps for the sector, saying that he was yet to achieve any of the roadmaps almost seven years later.
Information gathered by Daily Independent indicated that as at late 2021, the National Universities Commission (NUC) had given the government the requirements for the establishment of the aviation university, which the government said would be named ‘The African University of Aerospace and Aviation, but the ministry was yet to develop a concept note to be forwarded to NUC for consideration.
The other projects on the roadmap of the minister included designation of airports as free trade/economic processing zones, airports concession, establishments of a national carrier, aviation leasing company, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), development of airport cities (aerotropolis) and development of cargo/ agro-allied airport terminals.
Sirika had told journalists in July 2021 that President Buhari had approved a takeoff grant of N1 billion for the establishment of the aerospace university to be located in Abuja. He did say that the establishment of the university would enable the country to “manufacture” aircraft components and eventually “produce” aircraft, adding that it would be dedicated to research and development in civil aviation and aerospace technology.
The minister had explained that the decision to establish the specialised university was informed by the need to fill some identified gaps in the growth and development of the aviation sector.
He said: “We are deficient in research and development in civil aviation and aerospace technology, and that has caused a lot of underdevelopment of the sector and made us to be backward. An example is the development of drones or unmanned vehicles that are now taking over the space delivering cargo, delivering mails, delivering things and very soon delivering human beings.
“This is a new frontier in civil aviation that needs to be developed. We started with Brazil in the area of civil aviation, today Brazil is producing aircraft, and we aren’t producing a pin. So, I think we should be able to have this university that is dedicated to aerospace and aviation, in addition, also the production of high-level manpower.”
Speaking on the issue, Grp. Capt. John Ojikutu (rtd), aviation analyst, expressed disappointment with the performance of the minister so far. Ojikutu explained that apart from the failure of the government to lay strong foundation for the establishment of the aerospace university, the government also failed to make Nigeria a strong force in regional, continental and global aviation sector.
“There were promises of national carrier, MRO, leasing company and several others, but none of these has evolved,” he added.
He emphasised that the federal and state governments share in any of the aforementioned projects was not more than 10 percent and wondered why the government remained “visible partner” in what should involve other interests like foreign technical partners and investors, credible Nigerian investors and the Nigerian public.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Centurion Aviation Services Limited lamented that the plan to establish an MRO for Nigeria for instance had been on since the 1980s, but over 40 years later, the project is yet to see the light of day.
According to Ojikutu, rather for the government to spend billions of naira in establishing an aerospace university, the government could upgrade the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, to a degree awarding institution, stressing that the government could not sufficiently fund the over 36 federal universities it has at the moment.
He added: “The terminal buildings we borrowed money from the Chinese to build are either not fully completed and those completed have added other cost to correct the buildings themselves. The one in Abuja is obscuring the control tower; a new tower is needed; the one in Lagos made no provisions for aircraft parking areas; some operators buildings may have to give way and compensations would have to be paid.
“More than 60 percent of our airports have no night landing facilities especially runway landing lights; the career progressions of the staff and succession planning in most of the agencies have been mismanaged or distorted such that in the past 10 years, none of the staff that had worked for 20/25 years rose to become a director.
“Above all, the actual value of the earnings from each agency is not known, even as some are going for concessions or commercialisation. But, for the repairs on Abuja airport runway, the work at the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) coming fresh like the Dr. Harold Demuren’s era, it is difficult for me to rate the ministry, but the responsible operating and regulating agencies.”
Besides, Capt. Ibrahim Mshelia, CEO, West Link Airlines, insisted that an aeronautical university starting as a fresh entity in Nigeria was wasteful and unnecessary. Mshelia explained that the country already had institutions offering some courses in aviation, which the government could partner with to produce the required certificates to graduates.
He said that like the national carrier project, nothing is heard of the aerospace university plan by the government apart from promises.
“Today, if nothing has been heard about it, it’s not strang… where is national carrier? But, whether it was necessary, I don’t believe we need to build a university dedicated to aviation. NCAT and other universities could fill in the gaps with little funding rather than spend from the scratch,” he said.
Mshelia was, however, reluctant to rate the performance of the minister in the past six years, but commended President Buhari for showing enthusiasm about aviation industry and for appointing aviation professionals to head the sector for over half a decade.
The appointment of aviation professional as a minister in the sector, he maintained was supposed to ensure continuity and solid uninterrupted development, adding that immediately Sirika assumed office, he showed energy to excel and deliver the government’s mandates for the sector.
“We are still waiting and hopeful that we shall begin to see the results. He has promised us a national carrier on or before April 2022. We are less than two months to April. This will probably usher in the deliverables he promised. Perhaps it’s therefore too early to rate this minister,” he added
Olusegun Koiki first published this in Daily Independent
