The Federal Government is taking steps to upgrade the Nigerian College of Aviation technology (NCAT) Zaria into a world-class training institution whose products can compete with those of other similar institutions globally and who can be fully recognized as engineering professionals by the Council for the Registration of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN).
Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka disclosed this when members of the Nigerian Society of Engineers led by its President, Ademola Isaac Olorunfemi met with him to discuss issues concerning engineers and the engineering profession in the aviation sector.
According to the Minister, aviation is a precision industry without any provision for error margins and where any little error could prove disastrous. This, he said, has informed the federal government position on regular training and retraining of the industry’s personnel.
He also told them of the sector’s need for more aeronautical engineers and Air Traffic controllers in view of the coming on stream of more airports and airlines and also government’s preparedness to collaborate with the Society in the training of these professionals.
In Chidoka’s words, “the desire of the federal government is to establish a performance-driven aviation sector that showcases the nation’s aspirations and reflects its size and economy and whose contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would rise to an appreciable level”.
Nigeria, the Minister said, has all it takes to be a leading aviation nation and an international hub because of its geographical location which is central to most aviation destinations. This potential, according to him, needs to be grown and fully developed in order for the industry to improve on its contribution to the GDP which is put at a paltry 0.4%.
He charged the Society to be up and doing in updating its members on developments in the profession, saying Nigeria must move with the rest of the world in all spheres.
Earlier, the Society’s President, Ademola Isaac Olorunfemi said they were in the Ministry in furtherance of increasing interaction, cooperation and consultations between the Society and its key stakeholders to provide professional support as may be required to achieve their respective mandates.
While appreciating government efforts in aviation reforms, especially the recent remodelling of airports nationwide, the society raised some areas of concern which included the need to step up the standard of maintenance and level of cleanliness in the airports which the President observed has improved to a great extent in the recent past.
He commended the commitment of government to the improvement of safety and security at the airports and in the airspace saying the maintenance of the highest standards of safety, security and environment was a veritable foundation for the growth of the sector.
According to Olorunfemi, while the Society appreciates the recent developments in the aviation industry, it was however constrained to draw the attention of government to the need for proper manning of engineering-based units of the aviation sector by relevant COREN-registered engineers. “This will not only enhance the speedy attainment of government’s transformation goals, but also ensure proficient and qualitative execution of its programmes, as well as boost the morale of engineering professionals in the sector”
He also informed the Minister that as a mark of global recognition, the Society has been selected to host this year’s World Engineering Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure (WECSI 2014) scheduled for November.
