Addressing Pilots, Technicians’ Unemployment
The report by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) that the number of unemployed pilots in Nigeria has swelled to about 500 is not only shocking but also worrisome.
The chairman of AON, Noggie Meggison, in an interview with this newspaper, said put the statistical figure thus: about 200 qualified but unemployed pilots, will be joined by over 100 student pilots sent to Jordan by the Kano State government graduate this year. This is in addition to the 52 already trained under the Federal Government amnesty programmme, as well as a fresh batch of 100 from the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), and yet another 40 from the International Aviation College (IAC) in Ilorin.
Lamenting the situation, Meggison said unless something is urgently done, the aviation industry may be facing a downward spiral soon. As if such sad news was not depressing enough, the AON boss decried a situation where more than 400 licensed aircraft engineers are also jobless.
Certainly, this ugly situation needs to be reversed. The incoming government will do well to enact policies that will help stem the influx of foreign pilots and engineers into domestic airlines. We are at loss to know why both the foreign and local registered airplanes should employ over 1,000 and 500 foreign pilots and engineers respectively in the country to the detriment of their qualified Nigerian counterparts. Definitely, no country that is desirous of taking a respected seat in the comity of nations would be indifferent to a development like this.
Even when establishing a national carrier is still not an option, given that past ventures were unsuccessful due to official and bureaucratic meddling, we call on the Federal Government to compel foreign carriers to set up line stations for aircraft maintenance in the country, to employ local engineers and hasten growth of the aviation sector.
It is an irony that while the number of private jets and commercial planes have increased in recent years from 20 to 150 and 20 to 100 respectively, this has not reflected in the employment profile of Nigerian pilots.
Such lack of opportunity is not only forcing our pilots to migrate to other countries in search of job opportunities, but also denying Nigeria the services of its pilots, who are sorely needed for national development. There is no denying that it takes vast resources to train a pilot both in local and foreign aviation institutes, it would therefore be tragic if such skilled personnel end up as frustrated commercial bus drivers to make ends meet, as disclosed by Neggison.
