To ensure that delegates and beneficiaries acquire the requisite skills for gainful employment in the aviation sector, the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has deployed four cadet pilot trainees for type-rating training at the SIM Aerotraining Limited in Johannesburg, South Africa.
This was disclosed in a statement by Mr. Igoniko Oduma, Special Assistant on Media to the PAP Administrator on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the move is a continuation of PAP’s deployment of its delegates and beneficiaries to aviation training institutions locally and around for them to become useful to themselves and the society.
Mangrovepen.ng recalls that in September and November 2023, the PAP Office sent 40 trainees (20 in each month) for aircraft maintenance engineering at Leadstream Aviation Training, Lagos, who finished their programme and are currently undergoing on-the-job training.
The Amnesty Office had also in November 2023 deployed two batches of six cadet pilot trainees each to SIM Aerotraining Ltd and ALT Academy, also in Johannesburg.
In January this year, PAP equally sent eight cadet pilot trainees for type-rating training at SIM Aerotraining Ltd on ERJ-145 and another six to ALT Academy on Boeing 737 aeroplane, while two trainees were also sent for helicopter instrument-rating and type-rating training, respectively, at Henley Airfreight Training Ltd, also in Johannesburg.
Speaking at the pre-departure briefing in Lagos for the four cadet pilot trainees, the PAP Administrator, Dr. Dennis Otuaro, said vocational training was a key component of the programme in the planned development of the Niger Delta manpower base.
Otuaro noted that the deployment was in continuation of the significant feat achieved by the Amnesty Office in the training of its delegates and beneficiaries in the aviation sector.
The Amnesty boss who was represented by Lambert Daunemighan, PAP’s Head of Vocational Training Unit, thanked President Bola Tinubu for his strong support to the programme to achieve human capital development, peace and security in the region.
His words: “The enlisting of these four cadet pilots for training, also highlights our passion and commitment to the implementation of the mandate of the PAP in the area of human capital development for our teeming youths in the Niger Delta.
“The Office has received the unwavering support of President Bola Tinubu, who has demonstrated the desire to ensure the peace, security and development of the Niger Delta.
“This event is a product of Mr President’s commitment to peace and development in the Niger Delta.
“We will continue to thank Mr President for his favourable disposition towards achieving the noble objectives for the establishment of the Programme.”
While congratulating the trainees on their deployment, the PAP boss urged them to take their training seriously, shun all forms of distractions and social vices.
“Be good ambassadors of Nigeria, the Presidential Amnesty Programme and the Niger Delta as well as your communities while in South Africa.
“The aviation sector is a huge industry. You now have the rare opportunity to acquire the relevant skills and knowledge that will prepare you to begin a career in the aviation industry.
“Please, grab it with both hands and make yourself worthy ambassadors of this programme,” he said.
The trainees profusely thanked the Administrator and the Federal Government for the opportunity, assuring that they would take their training seriously and also be of good conduct.