With right support, we can generate more foreign exchange for Nigeria – NCAT Rector

Rector/Chief Executive of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Dr Danjuma Adamu Ismaila, in this interview, speaks on the challenges in training professionals for the aviation industry and why the college, an ICAO-designated regional training centre, is struggling to meet the industry’s demands.   Given the rising enrolment rate in the school, are […]

Rector/Chief Executive of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Dr Danjuma Adamu Ismaila, in this interview, speaks on the challenges in training professionals for the aviation industry and why the college, an ICAO-designated regional training centre, is struggling to meet the industry’s demands.

 

Given the rising enrolment rate in the school, are there commensurate infrastructure to cater for the students and other professionals coming for training?

This is one of the challenges I am facing here. The mandate given to me was to reposition the college in such a way to make it financially independent and boost its revenue, and also to increase its impact not only in Nigeria but the whole of Africa. 

The college has the potential to serve all the training needs of the aviation industry and even attract participants from other African countries and other continents.

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The aviation industry is a global phenomenon and whatever you have here, certified by the NCAA (Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority) is equally the same thing with what is obtained in other parts of the world, because you work based on ICAO standards and recommended practices. 

The standard being certified by the NCAA is the same standard being certified by UK CAA. You can acquire your training or licensing in every part of the world. That means that we have opportunities to serve every part of the world. 

We generate a lot of foreign exchange for the country. We have the potential to generate foreign exchange to the nation.

By the time our flight simulators start operation, we are expecting more participation from Asian countries. Right now, both Nigerian pilots and Asian pilots are queuing in Dubai, waiting for the period to go and attend the flight simulator training. We have it here and we will soon start operating it. By then, people will be queuing on our own side because it is scarce globally and this will fetch us a lot of foreign exchange. 

One of the challenges I am facing here is the issue of accommodation. I think previous managements of the college did not give it the attention it required, or they were not so aggressive in terms of looking for developing critical infrastructure. 

For me and the minister of Aviation, we are working day and night to see how we can reposition this college. This is a simple challenge; it is not technical. It is just an issue of accommodation, which is limiting us from having more intakes. 

The college has another programme. Right now, we are expecting some Egyptians. They are pleading with us to come and organise a programme for them on June 16. 

They are controllers from Egypt who are coming to learn. Some two months back, we trained people from some French-speaking countries who wanted to learn aviation English, only that we don’t have the right infrastructure that will attract them. When we have the right infrastructure, we can attract these foreigners because our own charges are affordable when you compare it with other parts of the world. 

When you go to the US and other places, people are grappling to pay hotel bills because they are in dollars but when they come here, whatever they pay, they realize that this is very cheap, even though many of our courses, we charge them in dollars as well.

 

What investments are you expecting to improve facilities in the college?

Like I said, there are some infrastructures that are of critical need and these are infrastructures that will enable us to position the college. One of these is befitting accommodation. Most of the accommodations are in shambles or not in the correct shape that you can present and say this is what we have. You can easily renovate them or upgrade them to the standard that we want. Another is to have classrooms and also have facilities, especially technical facilities for the different types of courses. Many courses are required by aviation professionals globally and locally; so we need all of these facilities in place. Some of these facilities also need continued upgrading. So even if you own the facility, it is not the end of it. 

We need to continue to upgrade the system, cultivating new developments and new areas and that is why we need a lot of investments. We need to make the facilities truly international. Some of these buildings are as old as the 1960s. We need to upgrade them to look modern.

A student has a choice, especially the one that is used to the international arena. When he comes here, he will respect us. We have to modernise our buildings. So, that can give us international status. We are in the position of upgrading our classrooms to international standards. We are upgrading our facilities and equipment to accommodate more.

Some of our clients have a huge number of prospective trainees, but we have a limited number of people we can take, especially in terms of air traffic controllers. They are complaining bitterly that we cannot satisfy their training needs. 

We are working on a 3D simulator where we can take many people to be trained. Most of them require this training before they can be promoted to certain levels. We are going to have additional participation, and when you have additional participation, you will have revenue.

 

What’s the status of your simulator training?

There are different types of simulators for every aircraft we have in Nigeria. We know that it is not going to be easy. No country tells you that they have all aircraft simulators. Emirates is there; they have selected the ones they want. It is business. 

You just don’t tie your capital to aircraft that are not popular for use. We are going to select the ones that are very popular in the country; you know, those that are in high demand.

Imagine someone has a Dash 8 and you go and bring a Dash 8 and at the end of the day, after a month that you did not see anybody patronising it, that is a waste of resources or tying down your capital. 

You choose the one that you know is popular in our region. The B737 is the highest number of aircraft that we have and that is why we have the B737 flight simulator. 

I think by our analysis, B737 is the most popular aircraft that we have, CRJ is also coming up. If we can get support from the government to get additional simulators, that will be okay. Let us start with this one (B737 simulator) to see how it is going to be accepted by the market, not only in Nigeria but globally. Once it is accepted, then, we can go for an additional one.

 

What is your projection for 2025?

To project what you are going to have this year or next year is going to be difficult for me in the sense that I am trying to get support from the government in terms of funding. If I get the fund and I now increase my capacity, that is when I can make a projection , that I have increased my capacity to so and so number in terms of our equipment, in terms of infrastructure.

I am struggling to get support from the government so that we can build this equipment and infrastructure. By next year, whatever we get and put in place, then, we will be able to say yes that, this is going to be our projection.

 

How much do you require to bridge the funding gap?

I cannot estimate, but I know the projects that I require. There are the low hanging fruits that have been unattended to like the full flight simulator purchased about five years ago and still not being put to use. I have now set up a task force with a three-month timeline to fix all outstanding issues. 

First, they are talking about a license or certificate by the NCAA, and I was able to meet with the NCAA. I met the management of the NCAA. I told them our predicament; that the college has invested in this and that, in manpower development, training of our personnel and their personnel and we were able to achieve a lot. They have now agreed that they are coming soon to start processing the certification. 

Hopefully, in a month or two from now, our simulator will be put to use. The NCAA has the capacity to certify the simulator. 

We have trained some of their personnel. If they don’t have the capacity, they are at liberty to collaborate with their sister agencies. That is the essence of collaboration and partnership, where you have a weakness and your partner assists you. Right now, we are not concerned about who is coming; whether they or their partners.

 

How do you retain some of your workforce, because we realise poaching has become so rampant in the aviation industry?

When I came in, one of the challenges I encountered here was that we had many staff leaving because of poor pay and right now, we have the lowest paid staff in the aviation agencies. That is affecting our ability to retain staff. Most of our trained staff left for greener pastures. Some of them went to private airlines. What we are planning to do is come out with a policy to develop our internal capacity. 

We are going to sign a bond. We are going to sit down with the NCAA to ensure that certificates granted to them can only be used for NCAT training purposes and not to give you a certificate and you go and work somewhere else. You have to stay here and work for us. We can’t spend money on you and you go elsewhere. 

These are some of the strategies we are going to use. Another approach we are going to use is that we have approached the salaries and wages commission. Even yesterday, I talked to the people that the college needs to be given special considerations in terms of salary package so as to close the gaps with the industry. 

This is exactly what the oil sector did to the petroleum training institute. There is not so much of a gap in their salaries with the oil industry. That is why they are able to retain their experts. We, too, need to be treated in that manner. For now, there is a salary disparity.