By Aliyu Ibrahim

Air transportation in Nigeria started, through the use of the Kano experience in quelling the first ever twin-concept of rural and urban crises, by the British colonial masters, who were largely members of the secret service.

An incident led to the formation of what was later to be an eye-opener to areas that people least expected would develop to great heights for the benefit of the citizenry. 

The thought or dream of developing Nigeria’s aviation sector was an institutional seed sowed over 100 years ago, precisely on November 1, 1925, in Kano, the capital of Kano State, in today’s North-West Nigeria, which is aptly described as the largest commercial nerve centre in Northern Nigeria and attractive to traders from across North, Central, West and Sub-Saharan Africa.

In the life of any nation, 100 years is enough to usher in positive milestones in the areas of administration and other significant spheres of human endeavour, including air-transportation, travel, tourism and hospitality.

Between October 30 and November 1, 2025, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, in conjunction with some professional aviation industry players, as well as the management and staff of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, will be marking the historical First Aircraft-Landing in Nigeria, recorded on October 30, 1925, which presents a 100 years’ experience and lasting impressions.

Given the benefits of a tie-back to history and research, it can easily be said that the chequered history of air-transportation in Nigeria started on November 1, 1925, in the ancient city of Kano, when a British Royal Air Force Flight, 3D Haviland DH 9A aircraft, touched down, first at the old Kano Aerodrome and later the present day  Kano Polo ground.

The landing of the British Air Force flight, which was of self-serving interests by the then British colonial administration, was meant to offer a military quick-interventionist approach towards quelling rural and urban crises, that erupted between British Native Authority Officers, their officials and the Kano natives.

This economic cum administratively induced crisis, either by accident or design, gave Nigeria a reason to re-evaluate a date in history. 

It also offered Nigeria a good reason to also re-examine her journey so far towards revamping and repositioning the nation’s aviation ecosystem. 

It is instructive to note that after the self-serving November 1, 1925 inaugural flight by the British Royal Air Force, the then British colonial administration then saw the need to establish pilot airstrips in Kano in North-West, Maiduguri in the North-East and later another in Lagos, for the South-West.

This proactive political leadership experience and decision to have additional Airstrips across geographical domains, besides being driven by British military intelligence recommendations in very uncertain direct colonial administration of the then Northern Nigeria, apart from speaking to the views of famous African scholar, Walter Rodney, whose best-selling book, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’, 100 years after, is calling institutional attention to the urgent need for Nigeria to be the leading nation in the continental aviation ecosystem.

Judging from the Kano experience, handed down to us 100 years ago, the need then to develop elementary or rudimentary aviation route-points by way of airstrips was basically to facilitate the ease of air transportation for serving British government officials. It was also to enable the movement of correspondences and allied light-weight cargo parcels to London, in view of the undeveloped geographical terrains and hostile physical environments, then. 

After that landmark aircraft-landing experience in Kano, on November 1, 1925, the British Imperial Airways came alive in 1936 and started regular air shuttle services that traversed Nigeria, strategic West African British colonies and London.

As the years rolled by, newer aviation project developmental strides also came on stream, leading to the creation of the first Flight Information Regions, in Kano and Lagos, even as the then British colonial government in Nigeria went ahead to create the West Africa Air Transport Authority in 1946.

The aviation industry in Nigeria, upon the attainment of political leadership independence, in 1960, had a well-defined policy directions, which fell on the desk of Nigeria’s pioneer Minister of Aviation in the First Republic, Chief MbazuluikeAmaechi (aka ‘The Boy Is Good’), whose institutional efforts in the business of air-transportation were complemented by Nigeria’s pioneer of Air Force, Dr Shettima Ali-Monguno, after the British government had given us ephemeral political independence.

Somehow, Nigeria, with divine intervention and a pool of creativity, brilliant human resources development and ingenuity, had, since Independence, grown to develop the aviation sector to the level it is.

Though, subsequent federal administrations had been able to define the aviation pathways within the limits of their knowledge base and competences of administrators then, none had come nearer to the emerging innovative input-processes that President Bola Tinubu, in his administrative concept of Renewed Hope Agenda policy directives, brought to bear in the nation’s aviation industry.

As Nigeria commemorates the legendary but separate aircraft-landing  experiences in Kano, one in November 1925 on the old horse-race track, commonly referred to as Polo Ground, and other at the old Kano Airstrip, which today houses the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, 100 years after, President Tinubu would be emboldened to roll out new policy directives that would, before the end of his first tenure, revolutionise Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem. For instance, Tinubu, whose policy directives within the nation’s aviation sector had recorded huge milestones, appears well positioned to revamp all the 27 airports in Nigeria, under the supervision of FAAN.

This can be seen in the quality of persons Tinubu appointed to individually and collectively oversee the functionality of the sub-sector, ranging from the brilliant Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN); the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku; Chairman of the Governing Board of FAAN, Abdullahi Ganduje, as well the esteemed members of the FAAN Board. Same credit goes to the agencies in the aviation industry.  

A guided tour of all the 27 federal airports, including the five internationally designated airports, namely Abuja, Lagos, Enugu Kano and Port Harcourt, would show that, there are lots of fresh work-schedules as well as rehabilitation work to be carried out to bring the airports to the standards that their individual and collective images represent. 

Gladly, the appointment of Ganduje, a seasoned administrator, technocrat and scholar, who in 1976 functioned as the Sole Administrator of present dayGwagwalada Local Government Council, as the Chairman of the FAAN Governing Board is timely. 

For the 49-year-old FAAN, the expectations by Nigerians are numerous as they are relevant, giving the dire need to have full upgrade of almost all the existing facilities, housed at the various airports. 

No less-than international standard is required at all Nigerian airports. 

Perhaps, what Nigerians expect from Tinubu is nothing less than the total repositioning of Nigeria’s aviation ecosystem.

As the Ganduje-led FAAN Governing Board joins millions of Nigerians to reflect on the historical significance of the centenary of the first Aircraft-Landing in Kano, Nigerians expect that before the end of Tinubu’s first tenure and at least six months into the second term, modern Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul hangar facilities would have been installed across the major airports, including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, through Public-private Partnership.

This writer also believes that President Tinubu, armed with the executive brief about this 100 years commemoration, would also announce that the deplorable state of all the federal and even state airports in Nigeria be looked into, with a view to having a total rehabilitation and reconstruction of decayed facilities. 

It is also the expectation of Nigerians, who voted him into office in 2023, will re-enact that in 2027, that Tinubu’s development administrative projection in repositioning the nation’s aviation ecosystem should include massive expansion work in all the FAAN-managed airports, in the spirit of the Renewed Hope Agenda policy directives of the All Progressives Congress federal administration.

The essence of this multi-billion naira capital project, whose initial fiscal instruments deployment would outweigh the Returns on Investment, above any other consideration, would, apart from ranking among the highest foreign exchange earning-streams, create massive employment windows for skilled professionals, artisans and allied middle-level Nigerians and non-Nigerians.

The establishment of these MRO hangar facilities would position Nigeria as the leading aviation industry hub for the West and Central African sub-region, saving the country millions of foreign-denominated funds, in dollars, pounds sterling or euros, as routine yearly expenditure profiles, for C-Check as well as D-Check MRO processes abroad. 

Expectedly, it is heartwarming to note that the Tinubu-led APC government has made giant strides in its first 26 months in power, establishing a solid aviation foundation to make Nigeria a leading aviation hub in West and Central Africa. 

The introduction of MRO hangar facilities by FAAN across the country’s major airports, plus Abuja, would, therefore, be a pivotal step in the political leadership journey of the government. It will also help to enhance the aviation sector’s self-reliance and institutional autonomy, besides spurring economic growth.

The strategic placement of MRO facilities throughout Nigeria is not merely a logistical enhancement; it represents a transformative opportunity for the nation’s aviation industry. 

By providing essential maintenance services locally, these hangars can reduce the dependency on foreign facilities, significantly lowering operational costs for airlines. This self-sufficiency can be a game-changer, positioning Nigeria as a central hub for aviation activities in the region, particularly when we consider global case studies whose experiments turned to huge successes.

Establishing MRO hangar facilities by FAAN across major airports and FCT would be one of Tinubu’s lasting legacies.

Celebrating 100 years of the first aircraft-landing in Nigeria, on a rag-tagged airstrip, in the ancient city of Kano, should spur Nigeria towards recording greater successes and repositioning the aviation ecosystem.

Hundred years is a long enough period for us as the giant of Africa to set standards for other African countries.

Given the required motivational incentives, Nigeria can and will achieve greater successes, milestones and soar to new heights in the aviation industry.

*Dr Ibrahim, a political scientist and public affairs commentator, is the  Convener, National Agenda For Tinubu 2027.