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NCAT to Commence Helicopter Training, to Award Degree Course

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Captain (Mrs) Chinyere Kalu, rector, NCAT, Zaria,
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Captain Mrs Chinyere Kalu, rector, Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, said Helicopter training and Degree programmes will commence at the college this year.

Speaking  on the transformation of the college in the past three years, Capt Kalu said training of helicopter pilots will commence as soon as the college takes delivery of its acquired Bell 206 helicopters presently in Lagos.

According to her, it became necessary to introduce helicopter training as 80 percent of helicopter pilots were foreigners being used for off shore oil rigs in the Niger Delta.

“It’s a very sensitive area and key in our economy and should be well secured. Having such operations done by foreigners, you will agree with me that its not in the best interest of our nation”. “If Nigerians are in the forefront in taking over fix wings, i dont see the reason why rotary wings should be left in the hands of foreigners especially the sensitive nature of it. We are very hopeful that it will commence this year, we are at the final stage and we will need a smaller helicopter to start”

Kalu also announced that the college was embarking on refleeting of all its training aircraft in the college as the current ones were old and becoming increasingly difficult to maintain by the college.

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“We have 23 aircraft and we need more, we are in the process of re-fleeting because the single engine aircraft we have been flying are being depleted by the day due to age and incidences”

The NCAT boss explained that the college third hangar will be put into use soon after repairs adding that it will take care of the aircraft instead of ferrying them abroad.

She said it was extremely expensive and uneconomical to have these aircraft fixed abroad and returned into the country but added that with such hangar, repairs will be carried out.

With over 500 students in the college, Capt Kalu explained that the college will commence its HND programmes which will increase the students number to about a thousand including those on short courses, three, six and twelve months.

The rector explained that the college was pursuing and processing accreditation for its degree course with the Aviation Accreditation Board International in the USA.

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According to Capt Kalu, the college intends to offer courses on aerospace engineering. “We want to offer Degree course along with flying, despatchers course, aviation management and so on. So there are a lot of courses we would want to offer beyond what we are offering now and also in line with aviation training”.

She said more instructors will be employed as soon as the courses commenced.

On the perceived shortage of pilots and engineers in the country, the NCAT boss remarked that the country has produced a lot of jobless pilots and engineers in the country but accused airline operators for going for expatriates at the detriment of trained Nigerian pilots and engineers.

According to her, Nigerian pilots understand the terrain and weather of the country and better trained than their foreign counterparts and appealed to Nigerian operators to be patriotic by employing indigenous pilots.

“My disappointment and discouragement is the fact that our Nigerian businessmen and operators are not patronising home grown pilots and engineers. They will rather employ a fresh horn with 200 hours from the USA or anywhere instead of employing our own home grown well trained pilots who may even have up to 250 or 300 hours”.

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Capt Kalu also disclosed that the installation of the colleges runway lights will be completed in two weeks time adding that it will be of immense benefit for both the students for night training and for visitors to land at night.

 
She said the college was striving hard to meet international standard with the introduction of new innovations in the college.

According to her, IATA in 2012, declared NCAT as the best training institution in Africa while ECOWAS in 2013 declared the college as centre of excellence adding that NCAT will soon be made one stop shop for aviation training.

She expressed disappointment that state governments failed to take advantage of the college to train their indigenes and appealed to various state governments to sponsor their indigenes to be trained in the college and commended the Kano state government for approving the training of 45 cabin crew students at the college.

Capt Kalu announced that the Lagos campus of the college will take off as soon as issues on the establishment were resolved. “By now we ought to have had a campus in Lagos but at the last minute we had a little hitch which made us to slow down but we are pursuing it”

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The Rector commended the aviation minister Stella Oduah foresight in the transformation of the industry.   

 

 

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General News

Court Remands Akujobi, Ex Access over alleged Theft of N294.5m

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Chinonso Akujobi, former staff of Access Bank in Lagos, has been remanded in Ikoyi prison after she was arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on stealing to the tune of N294.5m.

Court Remands Akujobi, Ex Access over alleged Theft of N294.5m

Akujobi who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was arraigned before Justice I.O. Ijelu of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.

EFCC alleged that Akujobi stole the money between January and December 2025 while under the employment of Access Bank Plc.

As stated in one the charges, the defendant stole the money through unauthorized payments from the general ledger of Access Bank to her account number 0036668871 with the name Chinonso A., Uchechi A. and Florence A., thereby committing an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

‎The defendant pleaded “not guilty“ to the charges when they were read to her.

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‎In view of this, S.M.Yabo, prosecution counsel, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed for the remand of the defendant in a Correctional centre.

Justice Ijelu, thereafter, adjourned the case till October 8, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application and the commencement of trial.

The Judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the Ikoyi correctional Centre.

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NSIB Faults Runway Identification, Reveals Cockpit Disagreement in Asaba Jet Incident

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The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) says the flight captain of the VMO Aero aircraft that landed on a roadway near Asaba Airport in Delta State told investigators that the observer pilot mistakenly identified the paved road as the runway before touchdown.

The bureau disclosed this in a preliminary report released on Thursday on the June 10 incident, which prompted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ground the private jet.

The aircraft had seven people on board, including the pilot-in-command (PIC), second-in-command (SIC), an observer pilot, a cabin crew member and three passengers.

According to the report, the aircraft was cleared by Air Traffic Control (ATC) to approach Runway 11 at Asaba Airport after the crew requested a right orbit.

The crew initially discontinued the approach, executed a missed approach and repositioned for a second landing attempt.

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NSIB said the crew reported that the aircraft’s navigation systems indicated it was correctly established on the published RNAV Runway 11 approach.

“The PIC and SIC reported that the observer pilot identified the paved surface ahead as the runway,” the report stated.

However, the observer pilot gave investigators a different version of events.

According to NSIB, he said the aircraft remained inside cloud until late in the approach and that the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) repeatedly issued “TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP” alerts.

He also said he observed a telecommunications mast directly ahead and instructed the flight captain to abandon the approach and climb immediately.

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The bureau further disclosed that a cabin crew member reported that one of the passengers became concerned after overhearing discussions among the pilots and asked whether one of them was undergoing training. The passenger was reportedly reassured that all three pilots on board were experienced captains.

NSIB said no abnormal events were reported in the cabin before touchdown.

The aircraft eventually landed at about 8:57 a.m. on an under-construction paved roadway near Asaba Airport instead of the designated runway.

The bureau said its investigation into the incident is ongoing, while the preliminary report highlights conflicting accounts among the cockpit crew over the circumstances that led to the erroneous landing.

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EU warns Meta over addictive Facebook, Instagram designs, threatens fines

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European Union has warned Meta Platforms Inc. that it could face a significant financial penalty unless it changes what regulators describe as the “addictive design” features of Facebook and Instagram.

EU warns Meta over addictive Facebook, Instagram designs, threatens fines

The European Commission issued the warning in preliminary findings released on Friday, saying Meta had failed to sufficiently address risks posed by its platforms, particularly to children and vulnerable users.

The Commission said features such as infinite scrolling, personalised content recommendations and automatic video playback were designed in ways that encouraged excessive engagement with the platforms.

EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said protecting the physical and mental well-being of European citizens should be a priority for social media companies.

The Commission said Meta should consider introducing design changes, including disabling autoplay and infinite scrolling by default, providing effective screen-time reminders and adjusting recommendation systems to reduce the focus on maximising user engagement.

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The findings were issued under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which sets obligations for major online platforms to address risks associated with their services.

Meta, however, rejected the Commission’s conclusions, saying it disagreed with the findings but would continue engaging with European regulators.

The company said it had already implemented measures aimed at protecting younger users, including Teen Accounts that allow parents to manage screen time limits and restrict access during night hours.

The EU said its investigation, which began in 2024, found that existing time-management tools on Facebook and Instagram could easily be bypassed, while parental controls required technical knowledge that limited their effectiveness.

Regulators also expressed concerns over children’s nighttime use of the platforms and the possibility that features such as Reels and Stories could encourage compulsive behaviour.

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If the Commission’s preliminary findings are confirmed, Meta could face a fine of up to six per cent of its annual global revenue under the DSA.

The warning comes as the EU steps up efforts to strengthen online safety measures for children, with an expert panel established by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expected to present recommendations on protecting minors online.

Several EU member states, including France, have also supported discussions on restricting social media access for children, following Australia’s decision to ban users under 16 from accessing social media platforms.

Meanwhile, the Commission is continuing a separate investigation into whether Meta’s recommendation algorithms create “rabbit hole” effects by directing users towards increasingly extreme content.

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