There may not be an agreement among aviation professionals as to the number of personnel the Nigerian aviation industry needs now and in the years ahead or the number of aviation institutions the country requires in order to relieve the 'pain' caused by manpower shortage to the industry.  But there is certainly a consensus as to the need for a concerted effort to curtail the damage by encouraging the development of training institutions across the country.

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, gave approval to this effort as he formally commissioned the International Aviation College, Ilorin, Kwara State in Nigeria's North Central Region. The College, the second of its kind in Nigeria, is an initiative of Dr. Bukola Saraki, immediate past Executive Governor of Kwara State, which started about three years ago is hinged on a public-private sector partnership model. The plan is that the government will build the institution, equip it with the needed facilities, make it operational and then divest its equity to a maximum of 20%.

At take-off, the College already boasts of a befitting edifice with classrooms, a well-stocked library, simulators, computer-based training facilities and four Diamond trainer aircraft. Even before the commencement of academic activities, the College has already generated great interest as more than four hundred students have applied to enroll as students of the institution even though, at the moment, the College cannot accommodate more than 20 students into its flying school. The college, however, plans to work towards doubling its capacity after it takes off in the next few months as well as take students into its Air Traffic Control School among other programmes it plans to bring on.

An elated Director General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. Harold Demuren, points that it is important to keep encouraging public-private sector partnerships as government can no longer do everything. He adds that as regulator, the only way to maintain the FAA Category 1 status the country was recently awarded as well as minimize air accident to the barest minimum is to have a well-trained workforce in the industry, which initiatives like the International Aviation College, Ilorin will help provide. The Chairman, Board of Directors of the College, Captain Edward Boyo, says one of the biggest gains the International Aviation College will bring is that the College will help students and the country save money. By training at the College, students will be able to save about 35% of their training cost to become aviation professionals, while the country would save a 100% of what would have been outflow of foreign exchange. He adds that by having training institutions to train aviation manpower in the country, Nigeria will be on the path to self-sufficiency.

One of the highpoints of the commissioning ceremony was the issuance of an approved training organization certificate to the College by the NCAA. With this certification, the College is set to contribute its part to the training of the much-needed manpower for the aviation industry in Nigeria. The Rector of the College, Capt. Kenneth Hawkins, says even though the College has received the much-awaited certification from the regulator, there is still much work to be done before its first batch of students are invited to class.

The Rector says that the final approvals and certification for the trainer aircraft are being awaited. The software for the ground school also needs to be ready. The Rector believes that in about three months the first set of students will come in as the College is eager to compliment the efforts of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaira in training the future workforce of Nigeria's air transport industry.