The founder of the Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management, Oshodi, Lagos State, Mr Isaac Balami, has set an ambitious target for students of the institution to design and build Nigeria’s first indigenous aircraft within one year.
Balami spoke with journalists in Lagos ahead of the resumption of the first 60 students of the university.
He said the project would not involve copying existing aircraft designs but would be driven by original ideas developed through research and innovation by students and faculty members of the institution.
According to him, the initiative would be supported by Nigerian professors with international experience from the United Kingdom and the United States, who are already part of the university’s academic team.
Balami said, “The short-term goal is that these students, by the grace of God, by next year, will build the first made-in-Nigeria aircraft. I am not talking about copying someone else’s aircraft or idea.
I am talking about designing something original, working with our professors from the UK and the US, who are already on the ground.
“All my classmates from America are building aircraft for their countries — from China, from Germany. So the support we never got, we will give our own children and even our unborn children. There is nothing that stops Nigeria from building aircraft. We can start with four-seater aircraft, eight-seater aircraft and grow. We have all the equipment on the ground. We can do it. They will be innovators; they will help the country, they will help the continent.”
Balami noted that the Vice-Chancellor of the university is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering from England, while other members of the academic leadership have practical experience in aircraft design and construction.
He said the students would be guided by the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof P. O. Jemitola, who he said had successfully designed, assembled, flown and landed an aircraft in Kaduna State.
“These are the calibre of people who will be running this institution,” Balami added.
He explained that the long-term vision of the university is to contribute to solving Nigeria’s security challenges through the production of locally designed aircraft for surveillance and other security purposes.
According to him, such aircraft would support security agencies, including the police, the Navy and regional security outfits such as Amotekun, as well as assist in monitoring critical national assets like oil and gas pipelines.
Balami stressed that the institution is being positioned as a research-driven university focused on practical solutions, innovation and national development through aeronautics and management education.
“The vision is to solve security problems; we want to produce aircraft that will help with surveillance, even with our pipelines in the oil and gas sector, support Amotekun, support the police and the Navy. And this will be a proper research institution,” he said.
Speaking further, Balami said the university was established to address the challenge of the short lifespan of airlines, which he attributed to inadequate manpower and weak leadership.
“This university is for aerospace. We train pilots, aircraft engineers, and aircraft design experts. We also train people in mechatronics, robotics and systems engineering. The National Universities Commission has given us a licence to run 11 courses, and we are starting with the first five courses, including aerospace engineering, mechatronics, systems engineering and electrical engineering,” he said.
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