By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja – Mr Ossai Ilome, Co-Founder, Aviaten Initiatives Limited, Promoters of Miss Aviation African Pageant, has advocated for increased women participation in the running of aviation business in Nigeria and Africa in general.
Ilome, while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, said that the organisation was an action advocacy network contributing to the development of aviation industry in Africa.
He said that the aviation industry in Africa was currently dominated by men, stressing that only three per cent of managerial and executive positions in the sector was occupied by women.
Ilome said the NGO was determining to encourage active female participation in the industry through the creation of Miss Aviation Africa Pageant.
He said that the effort would be through effective re-orientation, encouragement and mobilisation of young girls to take up career choices in aviation.
He disclosed that the organisation, which was incorporated in the United Kingdom, had reached about seven countries in Africa that were prepared to participate in the pageant.
“We have looked at the rate of women participation in the management to executive positions in the aviation industry.
“So, based on the statistics that we have, we only have about three per cent of women that are in the management/executive positions in the aviation industry.
“Thereby, we felt that a combination of all quality of core customer’s service and women empowerment can suffice, so we decided to use the platform of Miss Aviation Africa.
“We created the pageant to look at how we can promote and sponsor young girls to take career choices in the aviation industry.
“Thinking about this project, the African Union (AU) launched what they called the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and we felt that this is what we have been waiting for.
“For us, when we talk about the pageant, we are not talking about the usual beauty focused stuff whereby young girls are brought together just for the purpose of showcasing beauty.
“For us, we felt that when you have a platform that brings young girls together.
“It will be an opportunity for you to re-indoctrinate them, re-orientate them, empower them with the tools and the skills they need for their future,” he said.
He said that the NGO would partner with the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC).
“The partnership is to host the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) Innovations and Opportunities Conference, also inaugurate Africa Aviation Spectrum Group in Abuja,’’.
Ilome said the event was designed to bring together aviation and spectrum stakeholders in Nigeria and Africa to harness the opportunities and catalyse innovations that would propel development in the continent.
He said that the theme of the conference is: “Liberalised Africa Aviation Market; Need for Efficient Spectrum Management and Effective Value Chain Development”.
“You will recall that prior to the launch of the SAATM, countries in the region have diverse needs and timeframes for the introduction of data link services.
“Countries in the region have also access to appropriate, protected radio spectrum to maintain safe and efficient flight operations.
“More so, in an effort to ease the process of air traffic management, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) within the air traffic management (ATM) infrastructure is gaining momentum in the aviation community,” he said.
(NAN)
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