From Law to politics and now to the Aviation Industry. How did you find yourself ‘flying in the air’?
Everything has a reason. When I decided to read law I was hoping that my children will take after me. My dream was to leave a very big Law library so that when I go, the Na’Allah practice will continue. I have three children only; two males and one female. It appeared to me that their interest was in flying. I said good, if that is what they want, I will encourage them to fly. But since I have a dream of keeping the family name alive even when I’m in my grave, I felt I now have a responsibility to equally join them in what they want to make out of their lives. Since they chose flying, I felt I had to fly too. So I diverted my energy into establishing a flying club.
It all started with one of my sons when he was admitted into a flying school in South Africa. He was underage but they were ready to accept him there. Luckily enough, at the age 17, he completed his course but he couldn’t take his license because he was not up to 18 then. So, we waited for some few months to get the commercial pilot license and then he came back and started flying here in Nigeria. But midway, when he got his PPL, somewhere along the line we decided as a family to buy J-430, and a brand new one was N12million at that time.
You could say I delved into flying when my son challenged me. When we brought the aircraft here and he told me that flying is difficult, I told him that nothing is difficult in my life. So I decided to go back to school. Luckily for me, I started flying solo at only 11 hours and everybody was surprised. As it is now, my entire family, excluding my wife, are in the Aviation Industry. My daughter is in flying school in Ilorin, Kwara State and my second son is already in the United States, also flying.
From Kaduna to Abuja is a two-hour drive, but you prefer to fly there, rather than drive. Why?
It is cheaper and safer. It’s fun, plus you want to build hours. A lot of people don’t understand, if I put 15 gallons of fuel in my aircraft I can fly to Abuja with six gallons left. It will cost me 9 gallons to fly to Abuja. If you put 15 gallons in an SUV, will it take you to Abuja? And if you are not lucky, you can run into something nasty on the road. It is by far cheaper to fly than drive, but people don’t understand that.
For how long have you been flying?
I started flying in April, 2004, or thereabouts. We currently have five aircrafts, one that we bought for $40,000 which is called Tango Juliet. We have one that we bought from Zaria, through auction and we have two that we leased from Afrique Air in the US. When we set up, we were able to buy a Grand Caravan which we sold to buy the VC-12 which I now fly. You can get a small aircraft for as low as $30,000. So, that is basically what we have.
Is it lucrative?
No, we are not a business. We are a flying club. It’s just out of passion, we love to fly. Those who want to go into commercial aviation go for what they call Air Operating Certificate (AOC). We encourage pilots who before now have to fly out to be able to renew their licenses to join our club, thereby saving money. We only do this for pilots who have been certificated by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
How large is your flying club?
It’s the largest in Nigeria. We have a number of members, and even a former Saudi Arabian Ambassador and the former Austrian Ambassador all used to come here. Also, there are some people who work with Julius Berger who come here occasionally to renew their instruments.
Would you say politics is more lucrative than aviation?
Politics is the worst profession anybody can venture into in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. Look around you to see how former ministers, former senators, former reps are finding it difficult to take care of their basic needs. The fact that when you come to the Senate or House, banks give you loans to be deducted in four years from your salaries and allowances is not it. You live big only during that period, but go and find out how the politicians live, one year after leaving office.
A lot of people don’t understand that apart from your salaries and allowances, except if you are a criminal or corrupt, you are not likely to leave the Senate or House with anything. It will even be worse if at the end of your tenure you aspire to either maintain your position or for a bigger office.
Would you say salaries and allowances of senators are fatter than those of pilots?
I have five pilots who fly for me. Except for the last one we took, I’m sure that there is none of them who does not earn more than what I do in the National Assembly. Nigeria is one of the countries where pilots take the highest pay, how and why it is so, I don’t know. What a captain receives in America, may probably be half of what a captain receives in Nigeria. And that is the truth.
Daily Trust
Everything has a reason. When I decided to read law I was hoping that my children will take after me. My dream was to leave a very big Law library so that when I go, the Na’Allah practice will continue. I have three children only; two males and one female. It appeared to me that their interest was in flying. I said good, if that is what they want, I will encourage them to fly. But since I have a dream of keeping the family name alive even when I’m in my grave, I felt I now have a responsibility to equally join them in what they want to make out of their lives. Since they chose flying, I felt I had to fly too. So I diverted my energy into establishing a flying club.
It all started with one of my sons when he was admitted into a flying school in South Africa. He was underage but they were ready to accept him there. Luckily enough, at the age 17, he completed his course but he couldn’t take his license because he was not up to 18 then. So, we waited for some few months to get the commercial pilot license and then he came back and started flying here in Nigeria. But midway, when he got his PPL, somewhere along the line we decided as a family to buy J-430, and a brand new one was N12million at that time.
You could say I delved into flying when my son challenged me. When we brought the aircraft here and he told me that flying is difficult, I told him that nothing is difficult in my life. So I decided to go back to school. Luckily for me, I started flying solo at only 11 hours and everybody was surprised. As it is now, my entire family, excluding my wife, are in the Aviation Industry. My daughter is in flying school in Ilorin, Kwara State and my second son is already in the United States, also flying.
From Kaduna to Abuja is a two-hour drive, but you prefer to fly there, rather than drive. Why?
It is cheaper and safer. It’s fun, plus you want to build hours. A lot of people don’t understand, if I put 15 gallons of fuel in my aircraft I can fly to Abuja with six gallons left. It will cost me 9 gallons to fly to Abuja. If you put 15 gallons in an SUV, will it take you to Abuja? And if you are not lucky, you can run into something nasty on the road. It is by far cheaper to fly than drive, but people don’t understand that.
For how long have you been flying?
I started flying in April, 2004, or thereabouts. We currently have five aircrafts, one that we bought for $40,000 which is called Tango Juliet. We have one that we bought from Zaria, through auction and we have two that we leased from Afrique Air in the US. When we set up, we were able to buy a Grand Caravan which we sold to buy the VC-12 which I now fly. You can get a small aircraft for as low as $30,000. So, that is basically what we have.
Is it lucrative?
No, we are not a business. We are a flying club. It’s just out of passion, we love to fly. Those who want to go into commercial aviation go for what they call Air Operating Certificate (AOC). We encourage pilots who before now have to fly out to be able to renew their licenses to join our club, thereby saving money. We only do this for pilots who have been certificated by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
How large is your flying club?
It’s the largest in Nigeria. We have a number of members, and even a former Saudi Arabian Ambassador and the former Austrian Ambassador all used to come here. Also, there are some people who work with Julius Berger who come here occasionally to renew their instruments.
Would you say politics is more lucrative than aviation?
Politics is the worst profession anybody can venture into in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. Look around you to see how former ministers, former senators, former reps are finding it difficult to take care of their basic needs. The fact that when you come to the Senate or House, banks give you loans to be deducted in four years from your salaries and allowances is not it. You live big only during that period, but go and find out how the politicians live, one year after leaving office.
A lot of people don’t understand that apart from your salaries and allowances, except if you are a criminal or corrupt, you are not likely to leave the Senate or House with anything. It will even be worse if at the end of your tenure you aspire to either maintain your position or for a bigger office.
Would you say salaries and allowances of senators are fatter than those of pilots?
I have five pilots who fly for me. Except for the last one we took, I’m sure that there is none of them who does not earn more than what I do in the National Assembly. Nigeria is one of the countries where pilots take the highest pay, how and why it is so, I don’t know. What a captain receives in America, may probably be half of what a captain receives in Nigeria. And that is the truth.
Daily Trust
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