The management of International Aviation College, Ilorin has appealed to the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq to come to the aid of the college to remain in operation.

The college said there was a need for adequate funding of the college to prevent it from being shut down by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

Acting Rector of the College, Capt. Yakubu Okatahi, made the appeal when the governor paid an official visit to the college, where he decorated five graduating students who have completed their commercial and private pilot license courses.

Okatahi and other officials of the college commended the governor for the regular subvention to the college, which has enabled the school to remain in operation.

He said the Governor’s recent release of N75 million enabled the College to purchase a new aircraft engine and propeller, 10,000 litres of Jet-A1, and repair the College’s fuel dump, among others.

The Rector, however, appealed to the governor for increased funding of the college to enable it to meet all the requirements stipulated by the regulatory authority.

Okatahi told the governor that the present management inherited 55 students when it came on board in March 2022, adding that 27 of them had graduated. He said the College could do better with sufficient funding from the state government. He, however, assured the governor that the current management would not disappoint the state for the trust and confidence reposed in it.

Registrar of the College, Mohammed Jimada Jibril, congratulated the governor on his re-election for a second term, and his emergence as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

He pleaded with the governor for the upward review of the college’s monthly subvention to enable it to implement a salary structure for its staff as obtained in sister institutions like NCAT, Zaria, Kaduna state.

The Governor, who decorated some of the graduating students, urged the College to put all its needs in writing to his office. He advised the management of the college to avoid a repeat of the mismanagement that stalled the progress of the institution with the withdrawal of the Nigerian Air Force and Navy from the college.

“With effective management, I believe Aviation College can attain autonomy and self-sufficiency in terms of funding. Our aim for the school is to achieve this, instead of relying on subvention from the government,” he said.

It would be recalled that the NCAA recently lifted the restriction placed on the college to admit more students following the intervention of the governor, who provided the resources for the college to meet the NCAA’s regulations.