Nigeria Marks 91 years of Aviation Today… We appreciate aviation -Sirika

…First Flights Landed In Kano Nov. 1, 1925

De Havilland 9A

Aviation in Nigeria started exactly 91 years ago today, November 1, 2016. The first flights landed in Kano on November 1, 1925 which was a Sunday morning. Heralding major activities in the aviation in the country was the operations of three De Havilland D.H 9A by United Kingdom Royal Air Force. “FLIGHT” was the name of the publication that documented the event . The editorial of the publication reads, “The three D.H.9A machines of the Royal Air Force which left Helwan aerodrome, Cairo, on October 27, have successfully accomplished the outward part of the journey to Kano, Nigeria, where they arrived on Sunday, November 1. 

In high elation, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika in his response said, “I am indeed happy on the country’s achievement in aviation. 91 years ago, three men risked their lives and gave us what we have today. Nigeria is a big player despite the challenges we are going through. We will surmount the challenges. I want to use this opportunity to salute the doggedness and courage of those men. We might not be able to celebrate with fanfare, but we appreciate aviation for connecting us and our businesses. It has indeed changed our lives and made our world easy”.

The distance covered is in the neighbourhood of 3,000 miles, so that the machines have covered between 500 and 600 miles per day during the flight. The route followed by the three machines, which were piloted by Squadron-Leader A. Coningham,  Flight-Lieut. H. V. Rowley, and Flight-Lieut. H. W. Baggs, respectively, was Helwan to Khartoum, along the Nile, a distance of approximately 1,000 miles and then across the African continent to Kano, which constituted a further distance of in the neighbourhood of 1,600 miles. On the first day of the flight the machines reached Wady Haifa, on the second day they flew to Khartoum, and on the third day they reached El Fasher in the Sudan”. The authenticity of the document cannot be questioned because the event happened on 1 November and the date on the document reads 5 November. Which means the document was made public four days after the said adventure.

 

Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham was Squadron Leader

Describing the adventure, FLIGHT said, “In view of the extremely trying conditions under which the flight was made, the successful accomplishment of the first half of the undertaking is a feat which reflects the very greatest credit on the Royal Air Force in general, and on the officers and men concerned in particular. So far there is little information available concerning the manner in which the machines have withstood the rather severe climatic conditions, but the very fact that Kano has been reached by all three machines to schedule time seems to indicate that no trouble of a serious nature can be experienced”.

With the coming of aviation into the country, Nigeria has participated in the progress and development. Despite the challenges, Nigeria is daily participating in the airlifting of passengers and goods with indigenous  carriers’ participation.

Aviation has assisted the country to have strong relationship with the global community. Just last week Nigeria and Portugal announced readiness to enter into air services relationship. Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika said, “Nigeria and the Republic of Portugal are set to commence the implementation of a Bi-lateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) as part of government efforts towards establishing and asserting the nation’s as an undisputed leader in air transportation on the African continent”.

Recently in what was described as “historic” by the Minister of State (Aviation) Sen. Hadi Sirika at the 39^th Assembly of ICAO in Montreal Canada, Nigeria was re-elected into the Part 2 category of the Council of ICAO. Nigeria scored a total of 152 votes from 152 countries. This shows the global recognition of the contribution of the country to the world of aviation.

With Aviation, Nigeria has become a lucrative route for foreign airlines. Right now, there are over 21 foreign carriers operating into the country. Also, the Business aviation is a growing market for the country. There is so much positives aviation has brought. We salute the doggedness and courage of the men (Squadron-Leader A. Coningham,  Flight-Lieut. H. V. Rowley, and Flight-Lieut. H. W. Baggs) who took the risk to give us what we are enjoying today.