By Sunday Ani
The Eastwing Aviation Institute, Enugu, has decried low patronage by the South-East youths, saying the school was established to bridge aviation gap in the zone.
Mr Nnamdi Hojo, the Registrar of the institute stated this when staff of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Enugu office visited the institute yesterday.
According to Hojo, majority of the students from inception in 2013 come from other zones of the country with a few from the South East.
He disclosed that the school provides its students the opportunity to harness potentials in aviation sector.
He decried the low patronage from the zone, saying that 80 percent of people they trained came from the Niger Delta, North and South West and some West African countries.
He regretted that all efforts to reach out to previous governments and well-known individuals in Igboland to register some youths did not yield fruit.
“In this eastern region, aviation is not well known and we are trying to close that gap as they are not keying into aviation training unlike other zones of the country.
“Most people being trained here are Yoruba, Hausa, people from South-South and a few Igbo.
“We are trying to close that gap so Igbo can benefit from it,” he said.
He explained that the school was a registered institution with Corporate Affairs Commission and had approval of regulatory bodies like Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
He further said that the school was partnering with Aviation School, Zaria, and Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) to train its students.
“With the upgrade in 2024 by NBTE, we run Ordinary National Programme (OND) in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Technology and Higher National Programme (HND) in Aviation Management
“We are qualified to train aviation professionals as we collaborate also with the International College of Aeronautics, a registered institution in USA,” he said.
He added that aside from aircraft engineering, the institute train people on cabin crew, flight despatch, aviation management, dangerous goods handling and other aviation professional courses.
“We also train people on aircraft type rating courses for our trainees to specialise on particular aircraft.
“In fact, it was the institute that trained all the aviation officers working in the Anambra airport under former Gov Willie Obiano.
“The school also run European Aviation Safety Agency and whoever passes its modula exam, will have the privilege to work anywhere in the world as aircraft engineer.
“This is the only institution today in West Africa that run this course. People come from Ghana, Cameroon and other countries to sit for it,” he said.
The registrar said the school engaged its students on practicals through partnership with Nigeria Air force, International Helicopter Flying Training School in Emene, Enugu, and Aero Contractors, where they are sent on Industrial Training.
On his part, the Manager of the Institute, Mr Gilbert Ani, appealed to the South East youths to utilise the school’s potentials for their own benefits, pledging to intensify campaign about the school.
He also urged the South East governors and stakeholders to sponsor some of the youth in the zone for the training, noting that only the suspended Gov Siminari Fubara had sponsored some students for the training at the institute.
Responding, the Zonal Manager, NAN Enugu, Mrs Maureen Atuonwu, thanked the institute for establishing the school in Igboland and pledged the agency’s partnership.
Atuonwu, who took time to explain how NAN operates, expressed the need for the institute to increase its awareness so that people of the zone could know about it and benefit from it.
“We are happy to be here and we will partner with you as you are doing a great job,” she said.
As part effort to close the gap, the Executive Director of Eastwing Youth Foundation, Christian Agadibe said the subsidiary NGO of the institute is also set to embark on a programme, tagged ‘Face of Eastwing/Southeast Aviation Summit 2025’ which will take place in August. “A purposeful gathering that seems to address pressing challenge we can no longer ignore: the underrepresentation of South East youths in the rapidly expanding field of aviation.
“Despite their talents, energy, and ambition, many of our young people are held back-not by a lack of potential, but by financial limitations and lack of access to the right platforms.
“We at Eastwing Youth Foundation believe that it is time to balance the equation. For too long, the South East has lagged in this sector- not due to ability, but due to lack of opportunity. “The Face of Eastwing/Aviation Summit is designed to change that narrative. Those that will emerge as the face of Eastwing and top five constants will get scholarship and other compelling prizes,” he said.