47 Professionals Honoured To Mark 100 Years Of Civil Aviation In Nigeria
A total of 47 aviation veterans and professionals some of who have passed on, were honoured on December 1, 2025 at the centenary celebration of Nigeria’s civil aviation, held at Bola Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The programme was organized by Federal Ministry of Aviation & Aerospace Development in conjunction with Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI a.k.a, ART).
Aviation started in Nigeria when the first aircraft to ever land in Nigerian soil landed in Kano on November 1, 1925. Three British Royal Air Force DH.9A planes, commanded by Sir Arthur Coningham, had made the historic flight, flying in from Helwan, Egypt, with stopovers in Sudan and Chad. That event marked the beginning of civil aviation in Nigeria.
Among the dignitaries honoured at this event were the first Nigerian commercial pilot, Capt. Robert Hayes, the first female pilot in Nigeria, Capt. Chinyere Kalu, the first Managing Director of Nigeria Airways, Capt Paul Thahal and the first African President of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Dr. Bernard Aliu.
In his remarks, the Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN) said a nation that does not honour its heroes is a nation positioned to fail.
He described the centenary celebration as “a moment for deep reflection to see how far we have gone in the last 100 years. Of course, there are highs and lows. What is important is that we do a deep reflection of where we are coming from and see if we have a clear vision of our goals and where we are going. Successful administrations might have lost their way in terms of repositioning the aviation industry as to where we should go. Now is the time to determine the way.”
Keyamo further said the first step “is to rebuild the nation’s premier airport, the Lagos airport, and make it a hub. The President has approved funds for it and we are going to do it. The second one is to put more emphasis on our domestic carriers.”
In his welcome speech, President of ASRTI, Air Commodore Ademola Onitiju (Rtd), who was represented by Dr. Gbenga Olowo said ASRTI as the foremost aviation Non-Government Organization in Nigeria “is over thirty years old and has contributed immensely to the growth and development of Nigeria’s aviation industry. Its resilience over the years has benefitted the aviation industry because it is a potpourri of experienced experts covering almost all professions in aviation.”
He said the event showed the resilience of the industry and that the need to celebrate this feat is a call for sober reflection on the gains, pains, and prospects over these one hundred years.
“The Nigerian aviation industry has witnessed growth but due to overall economic downturn, the industry has been lagging behind countries it was at par with, in the 60s and 70s. For instance, Brazil with similar population of roughly 233 million people has 115 flying population against Nigeria with less than 15 million flying population. Brazil received its first DC-10 aircraft in July, 1974 while Nigeria did same in October, 1977. For over twenty years, Brazil has been an aircraft manufacturing country while we are still yet to raise our flying population to just 50 million.
Again, the United States of America with a population of 340 million citizens has a total of over five thousand airports as against Nigeria with a population of approximately 230 million with just 32 airports. After one hundred years, Nigeria should have a new blueprint that will probe the growth of the industry and support job creation, develop our economy, grow our manpower and even export jobs and begin to manufacture basic aircrafts.
In 1978, Ethiopian had two B727s and at that time, Nigeria had roughly close to thirty aircraft with wide body planes in its fleet. Let us rethink what we are currently doing and let aviation grow.
In conclusion, we know that we can grow this industry, let us market the potentials available to investors and see aviation grow. ART intends to continue the celebration for the next one year and take the awareness to every corner of the country. States should be ready to receive us and to positively cooperate with aviation,” he said.
In her remarks, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku said “the journey over the years has indeed, been transformational.”
Delivering the vote of thanks, former Nigeria Airways pilot, Capt. Prex Porbeni thanked the aviation minister for honouring the professionals and for forwarding an approved memo from the President to Ministry of Finance for payment of retirement benefits of former Nigeria Airways workers, including himself. He noted that some of his colleagues had already died without receiving their retirement benefits.
“I and my colleagues are still waiting for our entitlements. We do not have a pension,” he said, appealing to the Minister of Finance to speed up the process of payment before the year ends.
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