Despite the short period the school started, you have done a lot, Tell us, where are we coming from?
Thank you very much.
Well, you said that despite the successes I have recorded, I would want to make certain things clearer. Whatever we’re having today in this nascent institution
is a collective effort of the entirety of staff, including the students, especially the pioneer students of this university.
Without the collective efforts, without the commitment and sacrifices
that every one of us has put in place, we wouldn’t have been where we are today.
From the get-go, we understood the power of collective leadership. We understood the essence of not operating in silos.
So whatever success we’ve been able to achieve, and in most cases, I said not so modest, nor that they’re not so humble, because we’re really proud of what we have achieved so far and it is a collective effort of the entire staff and students of this university.
When this institution started, I remember a lot of people cast doubt
about how this group will be able to do it. What is the magic, and what has been the magic put in place for the progress of this movement?
This has really taken me years back to remember the early days of this university. You said, if you say, if you leave it as just people casting doubt in the sustainability of the university.
I think I need to tell you this categorically clear, 95% of people, family and friends, took me as a joke. Not even the university, even me. They felt I am committed to something that is not achievable, that is not doable. Nobody believed me. Even stakeholders were casting doubt. That a university. How are they serious about it? Is another elephant, white elephant project? Is another this, another that?
So, I think that is the foundation on which I’m able to rely on to build this. I think I’m a person who loves challenges. I’ve said this in many fora before, that when I was appointed, I was appointed to nowhere.
I was appointed through an interview.
Quite a number of us were interviewed by a then-engaged consultant. But when I was appointed, the only thing that was given to me was a record. It’s only the name of the university. There was no single developed, structured concept note. Not a single one. No academic brief. So it is that early doubt that people had, that became the thrust that has propelled me to become to be able to really get this university onto its footing.
And we’re just starting, you know. The greatest thing is the support that we’re getting from the Honourable Ministers in particular, and in general, the entire aviation stakeholders, including most especially rather the heads of agencies in the aviation industry.
In the industry we’ve been enjoying massive support from them so it is on that note that we’re able to to really to really shame the doubting thomas’s and i think we’re on the right track not only in nigeria even internationally our recognition is is soaring so high it is flying everywhere you know anywhere you’re talking about global aviation education AAAU is being mentioned not only in nigeria not only in africa so i think we’re just beginning and we have been
able to put a lot of people to shame many people cannot come into my office today because they know what they told me all the names they called me all the positions they asserted me to and i believe i’ve been able to put them to shame so for the stakeholders yes i think
being nigerians, you know, once beaten twice shy we’ve had quite a number of establishments that later became
mushroom institutions but what we did especially the pioneer set of staff of this university is we took ownership of the institution we aligned it with our names we gave out our necks which means if it fails we are also failures so we give it our best we came out all in all force and the
staff for more five months there was no salary why was there no salary because there was no structure nobody knows what to even pay us you know so and we kept on moving there were no offices there was nothing i mean when i said nothing.
The government only had the audacious plan to have a pan-African aviation institution. That is it. So I think we’re just beginning, and more people are still doubting, but as of today, by the grace of God, we have 300 level students. That means we have 100 levels, we have 200 levels, and we have 300 level students. So in the next 15 months we should talk about
our graduation. We should talk about students who have passed through this institution, going to NYSC, going for NYSC, going further for their masters, for our master programs, Yes.
That will be the first set of graduates that will attend NYSC?.
Yes, and we are talking about those who will graduate before the end of 2027. So I think with that, the day we are graduating, I think I will also need to wear a graduating gown because I think I really deserve it. You know, most of us have really given our all because if I didn’t know there was a failure, we would have been associated with that failure.
But today, my identity has changed.
My personality has advanced so high, you know. We have been at each other’s wits, at each other’s narrow wits, and other institutions that have been in existence for 10, 20 years. And mind you, we are less than 10 years from existence. So, glory be to God.
Let me say congratulations once again.
Let’s look at the recent foundation laying ceremony for the school’s
The permanent site you mean? Yes.
I think that is one of the highlights of this institution. On the 21st of July, 2024, the honourable minister and his team were at the permanent site that was secured under the leadership, through the leadership of the honourable minister
of aviation and Aerospace development we were able to secure a 200 hectare land funding was secured for uh for building of the the premier buildings TELFUND was also in the picture to strongly support what the ministry is already doing uh so on 24th of july that was when the groundbreaking was done but because of technicalities paperwork with the landowners back and forth back and forth construction didn’t actually begin till november till november 2024
as of today , the 22nd of october 2025, we are still less than a year, but i wish
you can have a moment to go to that permanent site we have over seven structures already that today you can sleep in them today you can sleep in over seven structures that are virtually completed that’s why we’re already at the verge of trying to move trying to move
away from this temporary site back to the permanent site where the two kilometre internal route is almost completed. The power lines for electrification are almost completed
you know so with that i think we’ve been able to get to a good position and we’re eager to invite because the project has to think about between 18 and 20 something months but in less than 12 months they’re almost all completed one is one of the biggest uh monolithic structures that we have for lecture theaters in nigeria that’s talking about aviation business admission
management, it is so massive
it can stand as one of the biggest 10 or even the best five in nigeria today famous computer so we are eager to get it done in the next two months it’s a project that’s supposed to take about 20 something months but because of the commitment of the contractors and our department for works and physical planning for their extensive oversight to ensure these things are being done correctly and in time in a timely manner the next two or three months we should be delighted to invite the general public for the launching of
that massive structure.
That’s to say you’re going to move from this temporary site to that permanent site?
Yes we are currently almost done with our face movement to the permanent site and we are going to first occupy the school of post graduate studies which has about 23 offices ensuits and currently they are doing the electric fittings painting is completed so we should be in the permanent site before the end of december.
What are the needs in terms of manpower for this university?
I think the challenge of manpower.
The challenges for manpower for this great university, I see it as a challenge that might be ongoing for the next ten years. Because the university itself was established to address this. So, if you really have the manpower and the resources available, then the university has no essence. So we are actually training the next generation of managers within this industry, the next generation of resources within this industry. But the good thing is, the university is not only for Nigerians, it’s a pan-African university. But look at the Nigerian context. There is no profession in the world that you will not have a Nigerian there. There is no profession that you will not have a Nigerian there today, across the globe. Why am I saying this? The issue of knowledge, communication, and people to know about the existence of this university. We will come back to give them their best. Let me give you a very good example. One of the best hands we have in aviation management, as a program in the world, is currently in Australia. She’s a Nigerian. I can’t really remember her full name, but I think Ms. Nnenna or something like that. But it was through our social media interaction with her that she was able to move the institution, and she shared her resume.
It is so fascinating. And we are doing all we can now to engage her. Even while she’s there in Australia, she should be an external resource person for us. Currently, for example, our postgraduate programs, quite a substantial number of our members, our resource persons, are foreign-based. But because we are in 2025, ICT has really advanced, and they are teaching from the comfort of their country over there in Australia, Asia, and America.
So we believe with the training that we are doing now, for the next 10 years I see this university more as a centre that is training the trainees.
I see us more of training the people that will come over and really take the crux of this industry to take the position on what is actually needed for the advancement of aviation academics. So that is, I think, one of the greatest challenges. It is a challenge, but the university has established to address this challenge.
And I don’t see it ending as soon as yesterday. I see it being treated in the next couple of years. But this is a very big call for industry players, for key stakeholders that are knowledgeable
about this industry. They are hidden somewhere. They should please come out of their shelves. Come and join hands with us. We are still very young. The doors are still very big. We still have a lot of accommodation to take in these experts, you know, these professionals,
to come and join this moving train so that together we can set history.
This is a call to staff, even in NAMA, in NCAA, in NiMET. NiMET has one of the greatest agents, and we have a lot of other professionals who are really professionals, especially in meteorology.
Because we have quite a number of staff within NiMET who are PhD. holders, who are academics to the core. But in NiMET, NiMET being also, by extension, a research institution, has quite a number of of these professionals. So it’s a great call to professionals in NCAA, especially those who have a strong academic
background. So this is my big call, and this is my position on this.
Okay, let’s look at your partnership with other agencies, global bodies, and the rest. Have you been able to talk to other global bodies, both within Africa or South Africa?
Okay, firstly, about our partnership for long, our relationship with sister agencies on that particular aviation,
I don’t see it for now as a real partnership.
I see it largely as mentorship. Because in the early days of the university, these were the agencies that were really supported.
You know? So, yes, . The university .
carrying the name of a university but i think for now it is not really the position of partnership they are really supporting us uh they are they are really mentoring us because we are really currently really tapping from their repository to to advance what we have here uh so of course we have we have uh documented MoU’s our first mou was was with NiMET where the the the the the the students with academics that are available within the agency i will also have an Mou with
NSIB, as you can see this, our temporary side, we are sitting here free of charge
you know this facility has a hosted facility for over 80 students And we have classrooms here, our offices are still here, within this building, so as you can see, we are very comfortable under the hospitality of NSIB, and we are staying free of charge, you know, just the power of MOU and the ministerial directive.
We also have an MOU with NCAT, the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, and quite other agencies, quite other stakeholders within Nigeria, and also beyond.
Internationally, Aviation is international, so that’s why we are very, very passionate about international collaboration. That’s why we keep knocking on doors to ensure that we are heard of, we are known about, and we can kickstart potentially vibrant biocollaborations. First of its kind that we did was with our MOU with the French Civil Aviation University in Toulouse, France. We have an MOU, a very active MOU with Gulf Aviation Academy in Bahrain. We have one other aviation training site, which is like ATOM in Dubai. We are perfecting our documents for MBUD, the famous university for aviation in Florida, Daytona, Florida. All of that.
We have also the Montfort University in London, in Alaska, Coventry University,
Coventry University and Canfield University, one in England. So these are things that we’ve been able to do to achieve, under just three years of our existence. These collaborations are very active, including that with the University College of Aviation in Malaysia. And for now. We are perfecting both with RMIT, a famous university for aviation in Australia, Adelaide University of Adelaide, and Swinburne University, all in Australia. So we are really, as people say, we are biting more than we can chew. But our families, or rather our jobs, are very strong, and we are really chewing them comfortably.
What are your plans for this year?
What are your plans for the next three years?
We’ve been able to achieve all this because of the respect that we’ve been receiving from the Ministry and from other stakeholders by really believing in us and by respecting our autonomy uh giving us a free hand to to really implement the policies that are really for positive trend and also the government council of the university chaired by Alhaji Bukar Gumi Tofa will give us extreme support uh you know so it is on that note that i believe that the future is bright and if we have a very long period you know this kind of freedom that we have that does this kind of autonomy without serious interference i believe the sky will be our starting point because we just now received the report from our accreditation as a preliminary report and we did excellently well from the accreditation team from the national universities commission NUC the former report should be out in the next couple of weeks and we’ve gotten from the from the preliminary report we’ve crossed all the tough hurdles but of course there are some challenges here and there but some of them are beyond our own capacity so we certainly believe the future is very bright and that the university will be a university to beat globally not only in nigeria and we are actively working towards that the future is bright we’ve had uh we currently have a number of institutions in nigeria that are renowned globally the nigerian college of aviation technology, Zaria across the aviation uh sector globally so this university is also actively on that trajectory to go and even surpass such bars.
Dr. Mustapha Sheikh Abdullahi, the Registrar, African Aviation and Aerospace University (AAAU), Abuja,
How AAAU Rose from Scepticism to Global Relevance — Registrar Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi Shares the Story
