In a bid to becoming the number one aviation hub in Nigeria, Kwara State is again through its University setting up machinery to commence the production of aircrafts which would fly using motor car engines. 

Through the University’s Department of Aeronautic and Astronautic Engineering under the College of Engineering and Technology headed by Professor Leonard Daniel, the project is being carried out even as a followup to an initial design of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) by students of the department, a product which was recently displayed and demonstrated at an exhibition in Abuja.

Without doubt, an aircraft that would utilise a car engine for its functioning would make the cost of purchase, maintenance and production of spare parts closer to the reach of the consuming market than what obtains at the moment and there would be added bravo if the body constituents of the aero tool are sourced from indigenous markets.

And this is not the first attempt by Kwara to become the nation’s number one aviation hub. It started with the establishment of an International Aviation College in Ilorin which has today become an institution of reference in the nation’s aviation industry by offering professional courses in aviation and its allies. The recently established Kwara State University in Malete is the first in the country to offer courses in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and of course, evidences of the institution’s versatility are already being displayed by its landmark achievements in its areas of specialisation.

With all these developments fitting into Nigeria’s aviation industry through Kwara State, it may not be too far from this moment to expect the aviation industry’s formations such as the Nigeria Aviation Handling Company to start pitching their tents in Kwara State.