President Muhammadu Buhari has authorized the disbursement of N1 billion as a take-off grant for the establishment of Nigeria’s first aviation and aerospace university, to be built in the country’s capital, Abuja.
The Federal Government had in 2017 stated that an aviation university would be set up to “manufacture” aircraft components and eventually “produce” aircraft.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, stated this when he led a delegation of the aviation ministry’s visit to the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Rasheed Abubakar, on Friday.
He noted that the institution named “The African University of Aerospace and Aviation” would focus on research and development in civil aviation and aerospace technology.
Sirika pointed out that the decision to establish the specialized university was borne out of the need to address some identified gaps in the growth and development of the aviation sector.
“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 be backward,” Sirika said.
‘’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.
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“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.”
On his part, Abubakar said the NUC would expedite action on the concept document submitted by Sirika for the establishment of the university.
He said the commission would engage some professors to perfect the concept note for immediate approval.
Abubakar assured that the aviation university would be in place by the end of July.
“I can assure you that by the end of the month (July), we are going to have a brand new university, the first of its kind in Abuja, the first African University dedicated to aviation and aerospace study in the country,” he said.
“This aviation, under your guidance, will be the first to show the way that we can support the establishment of a specialized university that won’t only serve us but serve the African region and the international community.”
