By Chinelo Obogo
President of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Abednego Galadima, has issued a rebuttal to a statement credited to the Chief Executive Officer of NIGAME Aircraft Consultancy, Olufemi Adeniji, who criticised the proficiency and competence of Nigerian aircraft engineers.
Adeniji had in an interview with Daily Sun, expressed concern about what he described as the lack of innovation and critical thinking among local engineers, a statement which Galadima described as ‘unfounded’ and ‘overly generalised.’ Galadima told Daily sun that aircraft maintenance engineering, like flying, is a well-documented and type-dependent process and comparing maintenance task delivery times across different justifications without considering various variables is too simplistic.
“Adeniji aired his personal opinion which is not founded in fact and clearly runs into the error of generalisation. I would have wished that he is specific about the type of maintenance task in reference. To evaluate the proficiency of the Nigerian aircraft engineer simply based on vague comparisons of maintenance task delivery time in two different Justifications is too simplistic because of several other variables.
“Just like flying, Aircraft Maintenance Engineering is a well-documented process and type dependent, hence every procedure must be followed strictly and carefully in accordance with the maintenance manual.
It is highly regrettable that a professional will give such sweeping statements for whatever reason simply because he now resides off the shore of Nigeria.
“Despite some environmental limitations, the Nigerian aircraft maintenance engineer is hardworking, proficient, professional and can compete favorably with his peers elsewhere. That’s why today several of them now work as expatriates in other countries especially the Middle East,” Galadima said.