Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said it has partially lifted the suspension on International Aviation College, Ilorin, Approved Training Organisation (ATO) certificate.
Spokesman of the agency, Mr. Sam Adurogboye made the disclosure in a statement made available to the media.
This was conveyed in a letter dated October 8, 2018 signed by the Acting Director of Licensing, Cletus Umeh on behalf of the Director General, Capt Muhtar Usman.
The partial lifting of the suspension was as a result “of the closure of a good number of the findings and the remarkable commitment demonstrated in closing the remaining findings as verified during the recent re-certification audit of the College.
Consequently, the partial lifting, ”is ONLY applicable to the Fixed Wing Pilot (Aeroplane) and Flight Dispatchers Courses.”
It follows therefore that the helicopter flight training segment of the approved courses is still on suspension until the necessary corrective actions are undertaken.
The College is therefore directed to take necessary the steps to close all open items after which the Authority would carry out another round of re-certification exercise for total lifting or otherwise.
Earlier, NCAA had suspended the ATO of the International Aviation College, Ilorin due to the deficiencies found during an audit of the institution.
The authority hereby reaffirmed its commitment to enforcement of compliance to safety regulations at all times so as to continue to guarantee safer skies in Nigeria.
The state government established the International Aviation College (IAC), Ilorin, primarily to help the country save its hard earned foreign exchange, empower and improve capacity of stakeholders in the aviation industry.
It commenced flight training in January, 2013 and has enrolled six sets of Standard Pilot Course. But with the recent flag-off of Helicopter Pilot Training at the college by the state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, the institution’s status is now rated second to none in Africa.
The last seven years has witnessed an improved capacity building at the college as well as strengthening of assets to benchmark the college against best practices in the aviation industry.
Although some critics of the establishment of the college had referred to it as being elitist, “due to its fees,” Ahmed said the establishment of the institution was due to the shortage of properly trained pilots in the aviation industry, combined with governments’ youth empowerment strategy and the institution’s potential to contribute to the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by boosting economic activities in the state.