We don’t have aviation industry in Nigeria – Prof. Daniel

Daily Trust: Can you give an insight into KWASU’s Aeronautics and Astronautics programme?

Prof. Leo F. Daniel: I was brought to KWASU by former Kwara Stae governor, now Senate President, Dr. Saraki who had a vision of building the Aeronautics and Astronautics programme. It was called Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. But when I came, I put the two courses into different departments – one Mechanical Engineering and the other Aeronautics and Astronautics which is my own area of venture because I came from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and I see how it is done there.

We started in 2012. That was when Aviation College also started in Ilorin. Then, I was appointed the Provost of College of Engineering, the position I still occupy till today. This is the only Aeronautics and Astronautics programme in West Africa. KWASU started first and the students are graduating for the first time. The Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) brought me in to craft out what we call BMAS (Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard). I went there last year October/November and that became the BMAS for Aeronautics and Astronautics programme in the entire country.  

DT: Five years down the line, what have been the exploits and achievements?

Prof Daniel: Starting the programme alone is the greatest achievement in this country. I was shocked when I realized there was no such thing in Nigeria. We helped the NUC to get this programme integrated into their curriculum and they can now send it to different universities that want to start it. I’ll give kudos to my Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abdulrasheed Na’Allah who is steadfast in pushing this thing to a successful end.  

DT: What about the manpower gap?

Prof Daniel: That question has been asked before. Manpower is a difficult thing. We can’t find anyone in Nigeria. Let me give you an example: we don’t have people who are trained in Rocketry or Propulsion system. What we have done is to train our lecturers. We’ve sent one to Atlanta Georgia. We also intend to send another one for further studies. Give us five to 10 years from now; we would have been able to get adequate manpower to man the system.  

DT: What inventions have come out from the department? I remember you talked about Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) which one of your students invented?

Prof Daniel: Yes, that’s where my expertise really lies. UAV is a simple thing like flying an object that is not manned by anybody. We use it for reconnaissance operations, mapping the system and all these things. KWASU has been able to start building things like that. Students flew one on campus sometime two years ago.  

So how will this Aeronautics and Astronautics programme translate into aviation development in Nigeria?

Prof Daniel: The manpower we are training with time would build the system automatically. A little drop of water would make a mighty ocean. We’ve not yet achieved our goals but with this small step, we would actually get there. What we need is funding to train the manpower we need. 

DT: How would you rate the aviation industry in Nigeria?

Prof Daniel: Do we have aviation industry in Nigeria? It is zero. Flying a plane is not aviation. Do we have health monitoring system of an aircraft? We don’t have hangar where aircraft can roll into and be checked. We don’t even have a national carrier. All we have is foreign aircraft that come to help us carry passengers. We don’t have airspace system. A small state like Ethiopia has all these things. Generally we don’t have aviation industry, that’s what I can say. The airports are not adequately equipped. Mention one airport that is international in Nigeria, none. 

DT: What about Lagos and Abuja?

Prof Daniel: What do they have there? Just fly to a place like Dubai. When you get to that place, the terminal alone will tell you that’s an airport. Do we have such terminal here? They have extended the Murtala Mohammed Airport but it is not enough to actually depict us. The only airport that has the longest strip in West Africa today is Uyo. Boeing 747 or Airbus 380 can actually land in that airport.  

DT: Two major issues that have dominated the discourse in Nigerian aviation industry are concession of airports and bringing back of the national carrier, what’s your take on that? 

Prof Daniel: The private segment has been doing that. Take Arik Air for instance. Arik was part of the private industry that helped build the transportation system but where is Arik today? Government must first take up this kind of thing and build it to a level that is sustainable. Then you can privatise some sectors of the industry, not necessarily the entire system. You have to generate a benchmark for the industry to grow.  

DT: Are you saying government shouldn’t have allowed Arik to collapse the way it did?

Prof Daniel: Yes. It is dying. Why can’t government support it? If you don’t support that, then start a carrier that is reputable like Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways, even Kenya. Then you can now give it out to private industry to help you. Nigeria has the fund to do this.