10 May 2008
Lagos — The air travel industry in Nigeria which was beginning to suffer from a dearth of Nigeria-born pilots may be on its back from that setback with the recent resolved by Virgin Nigeria to give young Nigerians the opportunity of a lifetime as pilots. Nseobong Okon-Ekong reports.
Chinelo Aniebonam captured the impression of many of her colleagues. It was a career path many of them had their mind set on. But as life doesn't always follow a logical progression, some of them veered in other directions before retracing their steps. As the only female of the first set of eight cadets sponsored by Virgin Nigeria to the Flight Safety Academy in Florida, United States, Chinelo said she'd always wanted to be a pilot but her parents didn't take her seriously. The Aniebonams would have been justified to think so, especially as their daughter studied Accountancy and Finance at the Yaba College of Technology, graduating in 2003. She joined Virgin Nigeria in 2005 as an Onward Manager.
The story is not different for Stephen Nwaokoro who studied Geography and Regional Planning at the Lagos State University. Victor Eka took a degree in Geography at the University of Ibadan in 2004. As a child, Kayode Adaje used to make small airplanes. One day, one a cabin crew in the defunct Nigeria Airways took him into an aircraft for the first time and he fell in love with the deck. In obedience to his parents, however, he studied Human Physiology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. Virgin Nigeria has now given him an opportunity to do what he always wanted to do, fly to and fro in an airplane. Aninang Ani got a degree in Business Administration from the University of Lagos in 1996. In 1995, Adeniyi Aderoju graduated in Geology and Mineral Science from the University of Ilorin. Babatunde Abioye who couldn't make it to the public presentation of the cadets at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers Lagos had a similar story.
Apparently, the lesson that many young Nigerians have taken from the Virgin cadet project is that the background of their first degree doesn't matter. Despite that they could still be retrained and their energies redirected to more rewarding careers in the aviation industry. This new opportunity to develop career goals will definitely create new impressions on the mind of many Nigerian youths to take their studies seriously, no matter what course they chose. It is now taken that after their first degree in whatever field, a new world beckons for exploits in the aviation industry; and they needn't have prior experience in that sector.
As they stepped out proudly for acknowledgement and to the admiration of the media, colleagues and friends, the new Virgin cadets were collectively called various fond names like 'the A-Team' and the 'G-8'. The names describe not only their distinguished and elevated status, henceforth, but also gives a hint on the rigorous and thorough process that recommended them.
Training a pilot is not a tea party and even when one has the talent and is eminently qualified, he/she still has to contend with the huge cost of acquiring the knowledge through a formal training.
Captain Dele Ore, ex Director of Operations of Nigeria Airways and Chairman, Aviation Roundtable did not mince words at all. He spoke of his initial opposition to the idea of establishing Virgin Nigeria. His only reservation then was that Virgin should train young Nigerians to take up various careers in aviation. Expectedly, Ore was very happy that a new crop of Nigerians are emerging to continue from where they stopped. "Let's face it, these machines will not fly themselves. We have expired. As long as Virgin maintains the momentum, it is going to be a wonderful thing. If you decide to get foreigners, you ask yourself, 'at what cost'? I believe Virgin has got it right".
Ore said he would like to see an increased participation of young women in future programmes; something like a 40 percent participation by women. "You are wonderful ambassadors to the company, your families and the country at large. You must not be distracted from the object of your training. There must be zero drop-out. If for any reason, you are not able to cope, you would have denied somebody else the opportunity".
Alerting them to some of the challenges to be expected, he warned that "the first thing an instructor hates is a student who thinks he knows it. Another thing is indiscipline. After your initial solo flight, there may be the temptation to make a detour from the scheduled flight plan. Keep your flight log well, don't be tempted to go and show off at the beach or at carnivals. Don't go into restricted areas. You could have your wings clipped. You must cultivate the habit of reading religiously because by the time you graduate, your career depends on what you make of your training. Make sure you get enough rest, cut night clubbing and completely remove use of alcohol and drugs. You may get into trouble. Don't accept any parcel that you didn't pack yourself".
The seven men and one lady listened with rapt attention as Ore spoke. It was obvious that their training had begun, as they were getting the rudimentary tenets of a pilot's code of conduct from a man who has spent many decades in the industry and continues to be active.
Mr. Conrad Clifford, Managing Director, Virgin Nigeria explained that the programme was in line with Virgin's vision to develop a crop of indigenous personnel to man its fleet. The company, he said was doing this in anticipation of the growth of the size of its fleet with 24 new jets over the next four years. This programme will solve the problem of dearth of pilots. It will be continuous. The eight cadets are expected to undergo the training for 10 months. It will cost N10 million to train each of the cadets. The cost will be shared equally at N5 million between Virgin and each cadet. On their return to Nigeria, they will serve a mandatory five- year period with the company. After that, they will be free to continue with Virgin or seek their fortune elsewhere. The first set of cadets are expected finish training in the last quarter of the year. This will be in good enough time for the arrival of the first set of Embraer jet aircrafts that the company has imparted from Brazilian manufacturers. The company will not wait for the first set of cadets to return before sending another team to the US for similar training.
Virgin plans to train 20 cadets each year in three batches. At the same time, the company will to partner with the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology in Zaria for training of 24 mechanics every year. Virgin Nigeria stressed its readiness to fully support NCAT in raising the quality of aviation professionals in the country.
Clifford said "Virgin Nigeria is expanding fast and we need pilots and engineers to operate these aircrafts. The available pool of qualified Nigerian pilots and engineers are already employed by ourselves and other airlines so we are going to start to train young Nigerians from the scratch to be pilots, aircraft mechanics and engineers. NCAT has the potentials and the facilities to provide these needed personnel".
"This partnership with Virgin Nigeria will help to bridge the gap between the last generation of pilots and new indigenous pilots, as a replacement plan would have been put in place and it will also help to fund programmes run by the school, which in the long run, will serve as a foreign exchange earner for the country," he further explained.
Another avenue for training personnel for the aviation industry is through the Nigerian Defence Academy which leads one to become a military pilot in the Airforce, Navy or Army. Such a person can still continue as a civil pilot after he/she leaves the military.
Nigeria has less than commercial 500 pilots, flying less than 50 aircrafts. There are about 10 women among that number.
A few years ago, owners of airlines in Nigeria preferred to employ cheap labour from abroad, jettisoning local pilots who were better qualified. This even led to protest by these pool of professional Nigerians who felt cheated out of jobs in their fatherland.
The Virgin Nigeria Cadet Pilot training scheme is a landmark for the pilot succession pipeline through which younger pilots will be raised to bridge the age gap in the aviation industry.
The investment in the training of the cadet pilots is part of the current effort by Virgin Nigeria to positively nurture and position indigenous manpower to fill the vacuum in the industry caused by the dearth of pilots owing to the impending retirement of the current pool of pilots.
The cadet pilots are still on the employment of Virgin Nigeria and on the completion of their cadet training programme, they will be absorbed as First Officers and will be nurtured to rise through the ranks as they increase their ratings.
The Cadet Pilot programme is a yearly and continuous programme for employees who are interested in building a flying career. The decision to have the pilots trained in Florida is premised on the fact that Florida is known for its unmatched pilot training environment, with over 360 days a year of good flying weather thereby making it faster for cadet pilots to complete their training hours faster. Also, the flying School is renowned to have produced world class pilots with courses that are FAA accredited.
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