NASENI Boss: Caverton Contributing Massively to Nigeria’s Aviation Sector Development

Oluchi Chibuzor

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Khalil Suleiman Halilu has commended the management of Caverton Helicopters for placing Nigeria and Africa on the global map among the committee of reliable, dependable, and standard wise aviation industries in the world.

The NASENI boss stated this during the Tour of Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc and Signing of MoU between NASENI and Caverton, for the establishment of a Drone Assembly Plant, a Drone Training School, and a Service Center for Helicopters during a tour of Caverton MRO Center in Ikeja, Lagos on Monda February 19, 2024.

Speaking further, he said it has been a privilege visiting, receiving a detailed tour of  the Caverton premises and seeing first-hand the important work that  it does here.

“I am very inspired by what I have seen today. It is a testament to the can-do Nigerian spirit. From modest beginnings you have built a successful business that continues to grow, and to adopt and deploy world-class technology, processes and talent to place Nigeria on the global aviation map. 

“From your Aviation Training Centre (CATC), home to a Flight Simulator Training Device, to the Aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility, to your Helicopter and Marine operations, everything we have seen here today has been state-of-the art. Caverton has truly built an aviation brand that is contributing to the prosperity and development of Nigeria, and that will stand the test of time.”

“As an aviation enthusiast myself, believe me when I say that this has been a very insightful and enjoyable experience. At NASENI, we are always looking to engage with players at the cutting-edge of technology and innovation in Nigeria, especially across our focus areas of Defence and Aerospace; Engineering and Manufacturing; Renewable Energy and Sustainability; Health and Biotechnology; Agriculture and Food Sustainable; Transportation and Mobility; Education and Creative Industry; IT and Software; and Construction and Smart Cities and I can say that we found a worthy partner in Caverton,” he said.

In his brief remarks, the Chief Operating Officer of Caverton Offshore Support Group, Mr. Rotimi Makanjuola said he is delighted to welcome the august visitor to his company’s domain.

According to him,  “The whole idea is to reaffirm our partnership with NASENI. We have an MoU together and so the idea is to try and which other way we can partner and collaborate. This is the second time they have been to our facility and they have seen changes, they have seen our  capability especially in training, maintenance and they have felt that now they are very serious about working with us and we are hoping that we will be able to work on a lot of areas, especially helicopters and aircrafts that are serviceable.”

Also speaking, Chairman of Production Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT), Dr. Dahiru Mohammed, said, “We want to see how we can partner with Caverton to see that we are able to domesticate more technology in the aviation sector here in Nigeria in terns of Training, MRO and other aspects that we need as a country fir us to stop using a lot of foreign exchange for the training of our people abroad.”