US-based Santos Aviation woos Ogun State on transfer of technology

THE Chief of Staff to the Ogun State Governor, Dr. Oluwatoyin Taiwo, has persuaded the Managing Director of Santos Aviation Ltd, Mr. Segun Adesanya to key into the ongoing efforts of the government of Dapo Abiodun to conclude the establishment of the Ogun cargo airport by investing in the project.

The Chief of staff stated this while welcoming Adesanya, a United States based air cargo operator to the Ogun State government house in Abeokuta.

The Chief of Staff who spoke on behalf of the state government described the new Ogun cargo airport when fully operational as a project full of potential, hence called on Adesanya to take advantage of the project by investing in it.

Speaking in the same vein, the Commissioner for transport in the state, Mr Gbenga Dairo, informed the Santos Aviation MD that the Ogun cargo airport project has been ongoing for the past three years, with its runway built to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft.

Dairo told the visiting air cargo operator  that though the airport had already got approval  to operate as Sunset Airport, but revealed that effort was ongoing to get the cargo airport to operate 24 hours as the equipment for that was being awaited.

The Commissioner while commending the Santos Aviation Chief Executive as the son of the soil, revealed how the state was considering a curriculum on aviation courses in some technical institutions to enable students interested in aviation to participate.

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Earlier, while briefing the government representatives on his mission, Adesanya said he intended to give back to the society through technology transfer in youth development in the aviation careers.

Adesanya on the occasion stressed the need for the government to take part in his efforts to provide potential training for apprenticeship, though where Santos Aviation will sign off students who will be eligible to obtain Airframe License from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States after taking the FAA examination.

The training project Adesanya said would be done in partnership with local schools, such as technical and polytechnics, with 18 months of training under the FAA certificates in airframe mechanics, amongst others.

Lamenting how the lack of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities in the country has led to more trained engineers not having the facilities to practice, Adesanya noted that with an MRO facility located in the state, that  it will ease the already saturated Lagos airport and boost the economy of Ogun state.

Adesanya who has been in the aviation industry for over four decades, had worked with Delta Airlines as an aircraft engineer, and has presently established Santos Aviation Ltd in the United States, providing aircraft management, interior refurbishing, and cargo operation worldwide, among others.