Buhari Approves N1bn Take – Off Grant For Aviation University
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has approved the establishment of an African University of Aerospace and Aviation to be located in Abuja with a one billion naira take-off grant.
Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika made this known when he led the management team of the Aviation Ministry to a working visit to the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission in Abuja.
He disclosed that N1 billion has been budgeted for the take-off of the specialised university which will be dedicated to research and development in civil aviation and aerospace technology.
He explained that the University is unique as Nigeria is the first country in the African continent to establish such an institution which motivated the name ‘’African University of Aerospace and Aviation.”
The minister noted that Aerospace and Civil aviation has been expanded with new frontiers that need the attention of experts that Nigeria will begin to play a role and participate effectively.
‘’An example is the development of drones or unmanned vehicles that are now taken 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,’’ Sirika said
The minister affirmed that graduates of the University will venture into all aspects of civil aviation and aerospace.
Speaking on the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology in Zaria, Kaduna, viz a viz the new University, Senator Sirika said the College is a skill acquisition centre, to acquire skills to become an air traffic controller, a pilot, or an aircraft engineer and stressed that aviation has gone beyond just skill acquisition.
He noted that the University will be a research centre primarily on aerospace and civil aviation matters.
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