Sixteen ex-Niger Delta militants have received the Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) from the Afrika Union Aviation Academy (AUAA) in Mafikeng, South Africa, the academy\u2019s Director, Capt. Allan Roebuck, has said.<\/p>\n
He made the disclosure on Sunday during the institution\u2019s graduation ceremony held at the weekend, adding that the ex-militants completed 37 flying procedures to enable them obtain the CPL certificate.<\/p>\n
“It is a long road to success. It is a lot of hardwork, discipline, focus and punctuality for these individuals to be able to obtain their CPL certificates.<\/p>\n
“With the certificate they can work anywhere in the world as commercial pilots because the aviation industry is a global brand.<\/p>\n
“They were tested in all the flying procedures and they are trusted to fly as commercial pilots,\u2019\u2019 Roebuck said.<\/p>\n
He then urged the new pilots to keep flying alive after their graduation.<\/p>\n
In his remarks, Mr. Kinsley Kuku, the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta and Head of federal government\u2019s amnesty programme, praised the former militants.<\/p>\n
He said the successful completion of the training programme of the pilots is a part of government’s peace initiative for the Niger Delta.<\/p>\n
“I must commend the late Nigerian President Umaru Yar\u2019Adua for his peace initiative aimed at\u00a0 resolving the Niger Delta crisis and tackling the region\u2019s under-development and environmental issues.<\/p>\n
“The amnesty initiative came about when the military intervention failed.<\/p>\n
“I must also commend Jonathan and the National Assembly for believing in the peace initiative by making funds available for the amnesty programmes,\u2019\u2019 Kuku said.<\/p>\n
He said many people did not believe in the ability of the ex-militants to be trained as pilots.<\/p>\n
“The training of these boys from\u00a0 across the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is\u00a0 a commendable commitment of the Nigerian government to building\u00a0 a strong nation.<\/p>\n
“Aviation is a global brand. With their commercial licence certificate they can work anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
“I must tell you that President Jonathan is very proud of you all. He has asked me to congratulate you and promised to host you to a dinner in Nigeria soon,\u2019\u2019 Kuku said.<\/p>\n
In his remarks, a member of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Sen. George Sekibo, said the amnesty programmes\u2019 success had shown that Jonathan was clearly on the right path.<\/p>\n
“It has shown that President Jonathan is solving Nigerian problems and not those of the Niger Delta alone.<\/p>\n
“The President may not know what he has achieved by this. It is not just training young pilots, but turning around lives in Nigeria. This type of training is building a new Nigerian nation by empowering the youths.<\/p>\n
“We at the National Assembly are impressed and happy with the success recorded,\u2019\u2019 Sekibo said.<\/p>\n
He urged the pilots to continue to pursue excellence in all their endeavours.<\/p>\n
Also speaking, the Chairman, House Committee on Niger Delta, Mr Wariman Ogoriba, commended the graduating pilots for making Nigeria proud.<\/p>\n
“I personally must thank you for making Nigeria proud and for being good ambassadors of the country.<\/p>\n
“With the success recorded and what we have seen, whenever more money is required by the Amnesty Office, appropriate fund will be approved by the National Assembly,\u2019\u2019 Ogoriba said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sixteen ex-Niger Delta militants have received the Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) from the Afrika Union Aviation Academy (AUAA) in Mafikeng, South Africa, the academy\u2019s Director, Capt. Allan Roebuck, has said.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n