Why lifespan of Nigerian airlines is short—Balami

Founder of Nigeria’s first private aeronautics university, the Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management, IBUAM, Engineer Isaac Balami, has attributed the short lifespan of airlines in the country to lack of corporate culture and leadership which most of the time throws up people who don’t have deep knowledge of the industry as heads of such airlines.

Balami, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of 7 Star Global Airlines and 7 Star Global Hangar, noted that such people often have sufficient industry experience, but lack managerial skills.

He spoke at the weekend in Lagos when officials of the Borno State government visited the campus of the university, its workshop and the premises of 7 Star Global Hangar.
Balami’s university, IBUAM, is the first private aeronautics university in Nigeria and is starting academic activities in few weeks time.

Speaking on what motivated him to start the university, he said, “The motivation behind this university is just a response by myself and my team to fill the gap that exists in the industry.

It was the Nigeria Airways that first landed in America, it was not Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airlines or South African Airlines, it was the Nigeria Airways. The days of past glory must be restored.

I believe we can do better. The university is for the training of pilots, aircraft engineers, aircraft designers among others. We will also train professionals in the fields of robotics, system engineering, etc. 

“The National Universities Commission has given us license to run 11 courses, but we are staring with five courses namely aeronautics, aerospace engineering, electrical electronic etc.

The vision is straightforward. If you check the history of airlines operation in this country, in the days of Okada, IRS, Chachangi and others, you will discover that the average lifespan of the airlines is 10 years.

Even the current airlines, you will discover that after 10 years, they begin to struggle, having flight delays, flight cancellations and even reduction in the number of aircraft. 

“When I was doing my PhD programme in America, I did some research and realized that consistency in corporate culture and corporate leadership is missing. Somebody who has just left the Aviation College in Zaria, with his certificate becoming a captain, an aircraft engineer, and boom, he is the

Managing Director of an airline, the person has sufficient industry experience, but he has not got managerial skills. He has not gone through the four walls of a university where he can do his degree, masters and even PhD degree to support the industry. 

“So, manpower and leadership have been issues in the country and across the continent. IBUAM will sort that one out by the grace of God whereby a boy or girl at the age of 17 or 18 will enter the campus and will be exposed to the nitty gritty of the industry.

You have been to the hangar and you have seen what we have there, which are modern and they are state of the art facilities. We do C Checks on planes, and also repair landing gear, brakes, engine overhaul, drones among others..

“So, a student here will within five years log in over 1,000 hours on our campus and about 1,000 hours in our hangar too. Such a student at 21 years, can work on any aircraft anywhere in the world. The good old days when Nigeria Airways was exporting manpower to support the industry globally. We are going to bring that back.”

Balami said the university would resume with 60 students already offered admission by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and that 54 of them are being sponsored by the Borno State government.
He praised Governor Babagana Zulum for the support given to the students.

“Aviation training is not a cheap matter. It is expensive. Over two decades ago when I was undergoing my training at Aviation College in Zaria, my parents sold three properties we could still not raise more than 20 percent of the fee and the Borno State government came to my rescue and gave my sponsorship.

I have reciprocated that by supporting hundreds of students through the Isaac Balami Foundation for over 15 years now,” he stated.
He added that two state governments are expected to bring in their students in the next few months.

On staffing of the university, being a specialized one, Balami expressed happiness that many Nigerians from home and the Diaspora have joined the faculty and are ready to support the dream of making Nigeria the hub of the production of experts in the aviation industry.

“The Vice Chancellor is a professor of aerospace engineering from England. If you check the profile of AVM retired Prof. Jemitola, he designed an aircraft, built it, flew and landed it in Kaduna. We want to locally build aircraft and drones that will help in the fight against insurgency and help in surveillance in oil producing areas,” he said.

Balami opined that with the necessary support and encouragement, a university like IBUAM would help the country solve the problem of getting competent hands to work in the aviation industry.

“The quality of the graduates we are going to produce at IBUAM here, be rest assured that nobody would finish from here and earn less than $10,000 and $20,000 monthly because of the high level training we are going to give them and the certification that they will get.

They will be able to maintain aircraft, design them and so on. The quality of our graduates will be high.  “We have the authorization from aircraft manufacturers such as Rolls Royce, Pat and Witney. I am telling you, the impact will be great.

Alone, Borno State government sponsored me over 20 years ago for training and I have two masters degrees and a PhD, I can tell you that since 15 years ago, I have been supporting over 380 children in my place in Borno South.

Some of the kids benefitting from the Isaac Balami Foundation are now graduates. See what the Borno State government is doing, they are sponsoring 54 students to become aeronautic engineers, and pilots. Over 3,000 took the qualifying examinations and they chose those who scored the highest in UTME and they are resuming next week by the grace of God.

And these guys will be better than I am because of the opportunities and facilities they are exposed to, I never had such. The students will be innovators, they will help the country and the continent. 

“My classmates in America are now building aircraft for their countries. The support we are giving our children, they too will give their own children. There is nothing that stops Nigeria from building aircraft too. We can do it. We can start with four-seater aircraft.

We have all the equipment on ground. We can do it. We have Nigerians working in Boeing, Airbus, Flight Safety and others. We need to be recognized and supported by the government. We have been given the recognition by the government which allows us to use this facility and by licensing us. We believe that Nigeria will be great again by the grace of God,” he said.

The Executive Secretary of Borno State Scholarship Board, Dr. Bala Isa, commended Balami for setting up the university and the facilities already put in place.

“We have been to many places including China to assess schools including aviation colleges and I can say that what we saw on ground at the hangar, workshop and even in the school is top notch. We are impressed with the facilities and the arrangements put in place for the students to resume and we can say they have done well at IBUAM

“I must commend Engineer Isaac Balami and his team for the efforts and we are convinced that when our students resume here for their studies, they are in good hands, ” he stated.