President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the establishment of African University of Aerospace and Aviation to be located in Abuja.
The Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika stated this when he led other management team of the Aviation Ministry on a working visit to the headquarters of the National Universities Commission in Abuja.
Sirika said one billion naira had been budgeted for the take-off of the specialised university which would be dedicated to research and development in civil aviation and aerospace technology.
He said that the University was unique as Nigeria was the first country to establish it hence name ‘’African University of Aerospace and Aviation’’.
The minister noted that Aerospace and Civil aviation has been expanded with new frontiers that needs 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 to the production of high level manpower,” he said.
The minister affirmed that graduate of the University would venture into all aspect of Civil aviation and aerospace.
Speaking on the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology in Zaria, Kaduna, viz-a-viz the new University, he noted that the College was 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 would be a research centre primarily on aerospace and civil aviation matters.
On his part, the Executive Secretary, National University Commission (NUC) who received the formal letter of request reiterated the commission’s commitment to ensure that the guidelines for establishing any higher institution in the country was adhere to before granting approval.
