The newly licensed Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management (IBUAM) has announced plans to have its students build Nigeria’s first aircraft.

This comes as the country’s university count has risen to 295 after the licensing of 11 new institutions on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja after receiving its operational license from the Federal Government, the founder and promoter of the institution, Isaac Balami, was upbeat that the university’s students will soon build Nigeria’s first indigenous aircraft.

Located in Lagos State, the institution is the country’s first aeronautic university.

Balami, the immediate past President of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, said that after being in the aviation sector for over two decades, he saw the need to restore the good old days of Nigerian Airways when the country’s aviation sector was the cynosure of all eyes.

He said: “The whole idea is to see how we can produce products that will not just build aircraft but will have certifications from Boeing, Airbus, Gulfstream, and Brain, and so on. Now, this is not what we intend to do. We’ve done it already, but at the level of certification.

“We want to see how we can take it to the next level, where our children, you can imagine your son or daughter at the age of 16, 17, 18, 19, or 20, when they are graduating. They don’t just have our degree, but they are certified by the aircraft manufacturers. They are also having up to seven to 10,000 hours on a live aircraft in our aircraft hangar, which is in Lagos. And they will also have European and Nigerian civil aviation licenses.

“Very soon, months or years from now, you will see the first made-in-Nigeria aircraft by the special grace of God, and it will be built by Nigerian sons and daughters. Young youths will do that.”

He lauded President Bola Tinubu for breaking a four-year jinx by approving what had lingered for years.

He said the president has displayed an uncommon interest in the growth of the nation’s education, stating, “This could only happen under a man who places a premium on education. This is happening in just two years of Mr. President’s administration, which remains amazing and unprecedented.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government’s licensing of the new university and 10 others on Wednesday has taken the tally of Nigerian universities to 295.

The Guardian reports that the other newly licensed universities include New City University, Aiyetoro, Ogun State; Lens University, Ilemona, Kwara State; Kevin Ezeh University, Mgbowo, Enugu State; and Southern Atlantic University, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Others are University of Fortune, Igbotako, Ondo State; Minaret University, Ikirun, Osun State; Abdulrasaq Abubakar Toyin University, Ganmo, Kwara State; Monarch University, Iyesi Ota, Ogun State; Tonnie Iredia University of Communication, Benin, Edo State; and Eranova University, Kuje, Abuja.

Speaking during the presentation ceremony, Education Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa stated that the approval aligns with the Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative, designed to restore the glory of the nation’s educational system.
He stressed the urgent need to steer Nigeria’s higher education towards priority fields such as STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medical Sciences).