The matter later
created a kind of disaffection, which had to be resolved in a mature way.
So, penultimate
week, our Editor-In-Chief and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Dayo Asaju traveled
to Ilorin to have an audience with Captain Abdulkarim Abdulmumin.
The Rector, who,
has been flying since the past 32 years, has an intimidating work experience,
which he made available to us.
According to
Abdulmumin, the bad reports published about him are products of some
detractors, who are not happy with his appointment as the head of the aviation
college. He stated his own side of the story in the exclusive interview.
Can
you give us a bit about your background
My name is
Abdulmumini Abdulkarim, I am 51 years old, by July I would be 52 years. I was
born and brought up in Sokoto. I am a descendant of Ilorin, Kwara State and I
am a pilot by profession. I was an airline pilot and I was with the Nigeria
Airways, I am an instructor, flight instructor right from day one. I am a safety professional and I'm a
certified aviation professional in terms of safety, I’m a member of the
International Society of Safety Investigators, I'm a member of the Tiger Group
of the United Kingdom Society for Human Factors and I've been working as a
pilot since the last 32 years. Not one day has my license been revoked or
suspended. I have been working and I worked in the Nigerian College of Aviation
Technology for 12 years. All the information people are carrying about is a result
of the vendetta against me. If you want the record, I can give you and the
issue you wrote about had been addressed by the current management of the
Aviation College, Zaria before I left them to join the International Aviation
College, Ilorin. That is an issue for another day, we could talk about it some
other time, but it is there in the records and God in his mercies has shown all
our enemies what He could do. I am telling you that all my enemies are wasting
their time.
Talking about
professionalism, I came to the International Aviation College, Ilorin as a
necessity, I and my former boss, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, joined the services of
the International Aviation College on January 1st, 2012. When we got there, the
students had been admitted, but they were yet to resume. There were a lot to be
done, Captain Fola was even in the United States still enjoying his leave and
trying to come back to resume because I resumed earlier than him. So the board
directed that I should make sure that the date of January should not pass. I
had to import goods from the United Kingdom and make my indirect contact with
my colleagues, who are professionals in other training organizations and with
what we met on ground, we managed to start the courses. I have to tell you that
what your magazine is saying is that the progress that was made was reversed.
There was no progress that was reversed. We are the progressives, we made much
progress, you know why? I was the Head of Training in the college for 2 years
or 14 months, the students came in and they graduated. Glory be to Almighty
God, they graduated in 15 months, so what progress are we turning back. I was
the Head of Training; the Director of the College is Head of Administration for
Guidance and Funding. Thus I run the 'kitchen' and that's our only training. I
think if you give credit, you should give credit to the college through the
leadership and whoever is in the 'kitchen' cooking the meal. Though the chef
might guide, but some people are cooking, we graduated our students. And within
that period, when Captain Fola left, we had the influx of the Nigerian Air
force, 25 officers of the Nigerian Air force came in and train with us through
my personal contacts, my mates in the Air force are many and my seniors, who
know the capability because nobody will send an elite Air force like that if he
doesn't know he is meeting instructors and equipment to train. The Nigerian Air
force cannot afford to send people to a school, where they know they cannot
finish or they cannot be properly trained. Air-Vice Marshal Badey came in, I
brought some of my instructors from other places, they were retired Air force
officers, who have years of experience, who I know are older than me.
They are here with
me, so with the caliber of instructors, they gave us those contracts to train
their officers into commercial pilot status. Again, you saw it globally on the
television and he commended our instructors, so tell me where is the progress
being disrupted? And from XP1 to 2, we are in XP 6, our capacity is growing, we
are delivering, our next course would be graduating in the next two to three
weeks, we would invite NCAA to examine them. You know we don't shout, we don't
have plenty of money to be doing advert, but I think that is our own undoing
because I think if we are advertising, people would not be talking nonsense
about this college.
Though, it is set
up by the Kwara State Government, it is a big step, we know some other states
that are using their money to do other things, but Kwara State has done so much
for the industry. Every pilot you create in Nigeria, you are saving the
Nigerian economy 200,000 dollars every year. We have graduated about 12 pilots,
8 of them CPL 1, 5 or 6 of them PPL and we have several that have come from
other places, where they could not continue and could not finish and we
completed them here. And look at the economy we are building, our aircrafts are
there. Yes, in every school, you talk about aircraft crashing, Zaria has
crashes, you don’t put it in newspapers 1,2,3 times, you don't call it crashes,
you call it incidences, nobody has died, nobody has been wounded, but it is in
the training school and Nigerians and any safety conscious person should be
thankful to God that we are having incidences within the school because that is
the essence of training so that incident would not happen in a commercial
aircraft, where 200 to 300 people could die and small incidences in the
training school is expected, which is why our insurance premium is high so, I
don’t know people because they have axe to grind with the college. Please, for
God sake, people should not cry over spilled milk, we have individuals that
have left us and we didn't even meet some of them. I and my former boss didn't
even meet them in the college, but now he is feeding you with all kinds of
information, please, this individual is in court with different organizations
that have employed him; he cannot get a job now except from somebody, who
doesn't know him. He cannot go into any Nigerian airline now. I challenge him
to go into any serious airline in this country, he can't, he would be going
around running people down. Am I a drug baron? NDLEA should answer that
question, this is a very seditious and libelous issue, but people would do
anything to run others down.
Are
you saying you have never had any issue of drugs in your life
Where on record,
where, let anybody bring the records, where did I sell drugs, do I take drugs,
was I dismissed for drug or something, let the medical doctors come, say you
took drug. If you say I took drug, show me. Go to the records at the NCAA if
they say we have suspended him because he had drug issue, may be you were not
referring to my Abdulkarim, you were referring to somebody else. I have never
for one day do drugs or anything like that except if somebody wants to be
mischievous or do a hatchet job. We know where it is coming from, we know who
is talking. And that person, the individual that gave you this or the people
supporting them, have axe to grind with NCAA.
How
about the issue of the diesel in Zaria
I told you that it
is vendetta; the records are there, how can I, I as the Chief Flying Instructor
that is the second highest person in the college, apart from being the Director
or Head of the school, Head of the school is a managerial appointment like
H.O.D, with my position, how can I carry 25 litres of fuel to steal. My salary was over one million naira before I
left the school, I don't have to tell you the exact figure, I didn't have to steal
anything, I didn't steal airplane, I didn't steal the equipment under my
protection worth 200 to 300 million, if you look at the safety lab that the
government built then, the keys were with me and everything was under me, the
simulators were with me, I didn't steal any part of those ones, it is diesel I
would steal. Look at my career as a pilot, you don't want steal, but you will
steal diesel. This is just to give a dog a bad name to hang it. It was an
individual, who God has removed as a dustbin in the aviation sector that is
doing all these. I call that person dustbin because he came and spoilt
everything in the last two years. We thank God that the government was awakened
and put professionals to correct the anomalies the person he did.
How
about the present restructuring because from investigations, we learnt that
some of the young pilots were told to go
You see, when we
came, we met a situation, whereby a consultant, due to the sincerity of the
government, was given a duty to employ pilots to train the students. These
pilots you are talking about, they have PPL, which is the least of the licenses
of a pilot, the Kwara State Government sponsored, paid for their CPL,
multi-engine instruments rating and instructors rating. We heard that over 200
million naira was spent to train them, that is not our problem so long as the
training was completed and we found that, when we came, I and Captain Fola,
these young men could not even touch the airplane because they don’t have the
training, the aircraft was bought for them. Nobody touched a bit for seven
months because they cannot train with them. The people, who trained them are no
more there, we didn't meet them there, so it is like we met a haphazard place,
we tried to invite a professional approved by the Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority (NCAA) from the United Kingdom, to give them a standard rating
including my humble self and including the former rector, Captain Fola was
trained, we started the ground school training, which was done, conducted by
the foreigner, an expatriate approved by the NCAA. You see, people need to
understand. Nothing happens in aviation without the authority of the NCAA, they
are the regulators. These young men are earning N950,000, Arik doesn't pay a
pilot with 200 hours such a salary, we say these ones cannot be obtainable.
Yes, after they have been working for almost a year plus, they have got about
N800,000 none of them has 1000 to 1200 hours. Go to Arik, they won't touch you
if you don't have 1,500 hours and how much do you take, we say okay, listen
government has established this place, they created an enabling environment,
they cannot continue to sustain us. The state Governor called us in October
last year that he would not give us any money in 2014, but that he would buy us
equipment that with equipment, aeroplane and classroom, any money you generate
has to be for you. We call everybody and said okay listen, we and the board
decided to set up a committee, not me,
the board set up the committee, we discussed with the young men. I wasn't a
member of the committee, N650,000 was offered to them, they rejected it, I
called them on my own as colleagues and friends and junior ones, I said accept
N650,000, I will provide allowance, but you know you have a contract of five
years, their contract is two years, the college says okay, we will reduce your
bond from five years to three years and that three years would expire in June,
2014. That means you have two years, by that two years, you are free to go
anywhere, you can stay if you want to, but you are no more bonded to the college,
which is a win-win situation. You win some, you lose some and I say okay,
listen before you leave, I'll make sure the college gives you an airline
transport license, that is a plea because that is what Captain Araba taught us,
and that is what he did, look at the young men, the same thing he did for them
in Zaria, they are doing in the airline, they are in Arik. Some of them are
becoming captains already by building their capacity.
The
impression is that you don't have up to 1,500 flight hours
I want you to look
at NCAA, nobody in this world, nobody in any aviation state or country can
maneuver his way because I can understand the minimum amount that you should
have. ATPL Airline Transport License is
1,500 hours. NCAA is not doing me any favour. I have an Airline Transport Pilot
License, I can show you, I will show you my ATPL, it is current both the
Nigerian and American FAA license you cannot have those license anyhow, and I
have had it for over four years, you understand me? I have been a commercial
pilot for over 32 years, for 32 years I have had that my license, if you look
at the record, the records are there, you see in aviation, you cannot lie about
anything, if somebody says I have many hours, who is supposed to find it, is it
the police or the man who is working on rumours, its NCAA.
And
this can be traced in your log book
Yes of course, the
log book is there, you cannot lie about it, it is not about log book, NCAA
would not even renew your license if your log book is not correct, every time
you go for medical or renewal, you will have to close your log book and see,
I've flown this number of hours in the last 6 months, every 6 months is when we
do this thing. If you are telling me NCAA is a fraud, then go and meet them,
but I know I am qualified and I have done that, and nobody, why is it one man,
you know, I know him, that has now become NCAA man or spokesman for NCAA. Why
doesn't he refer you to the NCAA or go to NCAA and bring it out, there is
freedom to information, the Federal Government says you can give records, go to
NCAA and enquire for the records. Why damage somebody? Please he should not cry
over spilled milk, he should face life, we cannot continue to fight. This
individual has been fighting from secondary school, he went to court to finish
secondary school, he was sent away from the Air force, he went to court, when
he was in Aviation College, Zaria to finish as a pilot, he went to court from
his first employers, he went to court with his second employer, he went to
court with his third employer, and we are the fourth employer, he is in court
with us. Please can you tell me what kind of a person he is? He has never kept
his family in one place, he has never lived with his wife, all my life that I
know him, why don't you go and investigate, I'm not going to run anybody down,
but if somebody says he wants to give you a Hausa shirt, Yorubas would say; if
somebody promises to give you a cloth, you should look at the one he is
wearing. Look at him, look at me, look at his profession, look at how he went.
There
is this announcement on the radio that it is possible for you to train a pilot
within 6 months, is that true
It's possible; you
see there is a requirement by NCAA, which is why I say anything that we do is
within NCAA. We envisage that if he comes he does 160 hours ground school,
which is prescribed by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, he does minimum
of 35 hours as a student, they are doing 55 to 60 hours to get PPL and if you
complete 160 hours after ground, that is 8 weeks of ground school, you will
start flying, there is nothing intensive about 50 hours. Do 50 hours; even if
he flies once a day, in three months, that is 90 hours, what are we talking?
Once a week in how many weeks, he spends 3 months, that is 12 weeks, if he flies 2 hours a week or 1 hour a week, two times in
12 weeks, that is 24 hours, no pilot flies 2 times a week, he'll fly at least
3-4 times a week, or 4 times 5 that is 20 times in 3 months, that is 60 hours
and we have 5 aircrafts, we have three, two are coming now, 5 aircrafts,
assuming we have 3 aircrafts, we have 10 students, do the mathematics and
everything is calculated. You see, flying is not mystery. It is all about
physical things, you cannot lie about anything, do you think NCAA will allow us
to advertise what is not obtainable, we have an ATO license, we have a
certification and we are supposed to follow the rules of the regulations of
JNCA, we cannot go against it, so, please whoever you want to talk to about
aviation, first of all look at it that we are regulated, we are not on our own,
we are not a mushroom school.
What
is your dream for this school, where do you see the school in the next 2-5
years
We have begun to
go beyond the shores of Nigeria, though we are not well known in Nigeria. I
just came back from the south-south, you can see from the advert that most of
the people are from the south-south, we intend to make the college an
international school as it is named, to build a capacity above West Africa,
even in the whole world. I've had people from other countries; they want to
come and do some finishing touches or even fly. We want the college to be one
of the best aviation professional providers for Nigeria, West Africa, and
Africa at large, we can't say the world, but the thing is our pilot can fly
anywhere around the world once he gets the license. It was the investment that
the Kwara State Government did both in terms of money and people. International
Aviation College, Ilorin and Kwara being the home of aviation, where people come
to learn, we have proven that we could deliver. I've told you the caliber of
Air force men that come to us, Bridgestone is coming to us, and we are doing
some kind of training for them. The aim is to maintain the standard, and go
higher, we have made a point, we have proven ourselves, it is now to maintain,
it's not about winning, it is maintaining the winning streak. And that is what
we intend to do by increasing our capacity in terms of manpower and
equipment.
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