Buhari to commission made in Nigeria helicopter before May 29 -NASENI boss

From: Femi  Oyelola, Kaduna

The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Prof. Mohammed Sani Haruna has hinted that all things being equal, President Muhammadu Buhari will commission the first made in Nigeria helicopter  before the end of his tenure on May 29th, 2023.

However, Prof. Haruna said the border closure by Chinese government due to COVID-19 outbreak has delayed Nigeria’s manpower training in China for the proposed locally manufactured helicopter.

The NASENI boss stated this while fielding questions from Journalists shortly after a courtesy call on the new Commandant of the Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), AVM Paul Jemitola, for site takeover of Aeronautics and Air Vehicle Equipment Development Institute, as well as inspection of ongoing construction work at the Agency’s Automotive Supplier Industrial Park project in Kaduna.

Earlier, during the courtesy call, the AFIT Commandant expressed excitement at the collaboration with NASENI and promised to maximise the benefits of the collaboration for the betterment of all stakeholders.

He said, “NASENI had been instrumental to so many things even here in AFIT, as such, we will maximise the cooperation to the fullest. We will study the MoU and make the best out of it. NASENI can count on our 110 per cent support and cooperation.”

According to the NASENI boss, “The first made in Nigeria helicopter project, the permanent site has been shown at AFIT, the project itself has been developed here in Kaduna, so the project is about assembling. So far, we have assembled two helicopters.

“However, to have the first made in Nigeria helicopter with everything manufactured locally is still ongoing. We are committed and so far we have trained adequate manpower, however, we have some challenges because it was only recently that the Chinese have opened their borders as a result of COVID 19 and that has affected some of the plans that have been prepared and handed over to them to manufacture for us, also the training of some of our experts in China has been delayed due to these challenges.

“By and large the President will still Commission whatever is on the ground before leaving office” he stressed.

AFIT which is the research and development (R&Ds) arm of the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) had taken up the challenge of completing all works on the first Made-in-Nigeria helicopter initiated by NASENI.

The office space and hanger (Helipad) including the runway for a test – flight of the Helicopter located in the Air Force Institute was shown to the NASENI boss.