A member-elect of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Razak Atunwa, has urged state and federal governments to assist in arresting the dearth of professionals in the aviation industry by investing in training of aircraft pilots, engineers, and air traffic controllers. Speaking recently in Ilorin at the commissioning of the multi-billion naira private sector project, Atunwa disclosed that the dearth of pilots and other professionals was not limited to Nigeria, but was a global phenomenon occasioned by the boom in air travel and expansion of route networks by airlines.
He added that the Kwara State government has taken a bold step to mitigate the problem with establishment of the newly commissioned International Aviation College, Ilorin.

Nigeria's aviation is in serious crisis, as expatriates fly most of the airplanes. Most of the ones in service are aging very fast without adequate training for the youths to take over from them; a situation that is threatening the existence of the sector. Atunwa, who is also the alternate chairman of International Aviation College (IAC), was hopeful the creation of the school would complement the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, which was the only way Nigeria could cope with the "troublesome problem of manpower need of the future, in view of the aging manpower that we have now. In every department, whether maintenance, engineering, you find a steady stream of those who will run the industry in the next 10 to 20 years.

"If we have about six of this, each will focus on various areas of aviation training; because we are under-playing the importance of aviation even in the oil industry, and that is one part of the economy government is talking about local content." Asked to disclose the investors in the project, Atunwa, said "right now, we do have some partnership lined up, but because the college has just been given licence, more investors are going to invest in the institution. Sometimes, investors, especially in this economy, are a little bit cautious about investing money. They want to see it what they want to invest on; they want to see the students, the instructors, they want to see that you can operate properly, and want to see the management on ground.

"So, now that we have the licence, we can go back to the investors. That is when we can say 'we do have our licence, we are operating, generating this revenue, and guess what, we can actually make you richer if you invest in this.' So, that is the approach. It is step-by step approach." Speaking in the same vein, Christine Oriola, deputy rector of the college, reiterated that airline industry has boomed not only in Nigeria, but also all over the world. She noted that the shortage was caused by the fact that the airlines fly more planes, buy more new planes, fly to more places, and the need to poach pilot also became inevitable. According to her, "The existing pilots are getting older, and will retire at 65 years old, because they have to retire."