Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has urged stakeholders in the industry to be intentional in identifying, encouraging, nurturing and harvesting young talents to ensure a sustainable supply of manpower to the aviation sector.
He made the plea in a Keynote Address delivered by Obiageli Orah, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), at the Grand Finale of the 14th National Travel Essay Competition (NTEC 2025) and Air Transport Youth Empowerment Seminar in Lagos, recently.
The event, which is aimed at discovering hidden talents and raising future aviation professionals to address the challenges of an ageing workforce and skilled manpower shortage in the sector, had as its theme: ‘Navigating Career Entry Challenges to Secure the Future’.
Keyamo said: “As a globally regulated sector, it is important that stakeholders put measures in place to continually attract the right quality and quantity of human resources required to move the industry forward. It is important to note that programmes such as this are avenues through which we can breed, nurture, and harvest such human resources. Travel and Business News is doing a great job in this regard and deserves accolades.”
Declaring the forum open, the Minister said one of the critical challenges facing the industry is the ageing and retiring workforce, leading to widened knowledge gaps and operational issues.
NTEC Founder and National Coordinator, Ewos Iroro, said the initiative was birthed in 2009 to encourage young Nigerians to take up careers in the aviation, travel and tourism sectors as well as drum up greater awareness and support for the air transport industry.
“NTEC has raised many young talents who are now working in various fields of aviation. And a few days ago, one of our past winners of this competition, Miss Adeola Peace, who graduated from Murtala Muhammed Airport Secondary School, Ikeja several years back, got her Master’s Degree as an Aeronautical Engineer,” he disclosed.
