The Federal Government, on Wednesday, maintained that academic activities of the proposed African Aviation and Aerospace University will commence in September 2023.
The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, disclosed this while signing the MoU with Nile University, on behalf of the Federal Government.
Nigerian Anchor reports that this is the second time the Federal Government would be making the announcement.
Last year, Sirika had announced that the African Aviation and Aerospace University will commence registration for the 2022/2023 academic session on September 26 to November 18, 2022.
Sirika, while signing the MoU in Abuja, said the university will help address the research and development gaps in the aviation sector, adding that it will begin academic activities offering BSc courses in Aviation Business and Meteorology.
He also mentioned that the university has hired its management staff and created an academic brief while noting that there are plans to privatise the university in the future for greater effectiveness.
“The university ought to have happened a long time ago because it is part of our roadmap in 2016 that was approved by the president and this is just to go straight into research and development in civil aviation and aerospace and of course environmental sciences.
“This university has received attention all over the world. The first of its kind in Africa and by the grace of God, it would be one of the top universities in the world. I’m also very sure that we may even go into aviation medicine in the near future.
“It is dedicated to those core mandates of aerospace aviation and environmental sciences. It is intended to attend to the huge demands we have in this sub-region of ours and indeed continentally especially as Africa is looking to unite, integrate and become one entity in all fields and human endeavours.
“I’m happy to say that the academic brief has been developed, the management staff have been employed and of course, it will be governed by the Federal Government but will be owned and operated by the private sector through PPP arrangement.
“I’m sure in the long run, it will end up being truly private sector but the government needs to ground it fully to ensure that the take-off does not suffer any hitch.
“The university will run both physical and online courses. These days, universities are turning virtual and we will begin with the B.Sc. Aviation Business and B.Sc. Meteorology and of course, continue to grow. Also, not too far from now, we will be getting approval from NUC to commence Master of Science in Aviation Management.
“Nile will provide support for the undergraduate programme for the first two years and it is expected that more research and collaboration will be established between the AAAN and NUN,” he said.
