 Welcome back, and it's time for a second. How topic you want to take a look at the state of play in the Nigerian aviation sector? And I've been joined by a Demi Lola or your little ordinary aka Lola. He's an airline captain. Good morning to you Lola Very good morning to you madam. Well, I have me in your show today Good to have you well captain a Demi Lola or your Wally a during journey also known as Lola Is an international airline captain his passion for aviation and daring exploits led him to achieve a groundbreaking feat in 2017 he made history as the first African pilot to accomplish a solo flight around the world in a single engine light aircraft well this historic journey took him across more than 15 countries on five continents You know showcasing his determination and resilience to break barriers to achieve a long live vision All right, let's Let's speak with you now You have a very beautiful CV Which I just read out proudly proud of you Okay, so Travelers in Nigeria is having a tough time domestic and international travel costs have increased lately Leading to concerns among stakeholders. How would you suggest this is tackled? First of all, I'd like to take a little bit So I was born in England raised in Nigeria so I have a very good well-balanced view of both sides and All I'm going to say is impossible is nothing I remember the days in Nigeria where people drove cars without seatbelts and now it's absolutely a Crime to do so you you'd feel uncomfortable sitting in a car without when your seatbelts and basically with the aviation sector if Aviation can emulate 50% of what the telecoms and banking industry has done. I think You know, Nigeria would be a different place So essentially what we've done at the moment is shut off An industry entirely a tourism industry this sector Nigeria is geographically blessed with the weather with the location and Nothing is stopping Nigeria from becoming one of the greatest aviation hubs in the world but all these things come with hard work and a lot of tenacity So that's my view. So basically impossibly is nothing is what I'm saying Nigeria could have the best aviation sector in Africa 100% What's your opinion about the state of Nigeria's aviation? I think my opinion really doesn't Doesn't really matter. It's where it's where we want to be that matters. What's historically what's gone on in the past? You know, I try to stay away from political statements. I think What's more important is What we do from here going forward. I have noticed very very positive moves in the past few weeks and It's very optimistic and I do hope that The aviation sector will continue to move in the in the forward direction So the dilapidated Sorry state of the Mutala Mohammed airport has been addressed as we speak because I have been following us following on those news You know, so things are beginning to hopefully move in the right direction Let's look at the challenges first hand. I mean you are in that sector give us Some of these challenges. Let's break it down. I know you're trying to stay away from Touching some issues of some of the issues been raised, but you need to need to break it down a little bit What are these challenges? that the sex is facing and how Would you say this new administration is tackling it in such a way that you're confident it's fixing it Yeah, so basically we have our work cut out in the sense that Aviation itself is it's almost like not just in industries and economy in its own in its own right and Where we find ourselves is in right now is we are not exporting aviation and by not doing so money is not coming into the country and Instead all the foreign airlines are the ones that are coming in and obviously You know so aviation like very many other things have been imported into Nigeria so the problem the biggest problem is Forex and Where you basically don't have your own carrier You're reliant on everybody else's the little reserves that is in the country has been spent on foreign airlines and For example 80% of all the traffic that goes into Dubai 80% never stays in Dubai. They just moving on to all the destinations now if you think about them You know the billions of dollars that's been generated for the United Arab Emirates through people transiting that is potentially Money that Nigeria to could be generated for itself by having making itself a great hub. So geographically I mentioned before Nigeria is absolutely well placed In a position where they could You know manifest themselves into one of the best hubs in in Africa If you wanted to go from Zambia to to Lagos for example, it would take you almost 20 hours and I could have gone to London and back in that time. So connectivity Is what Niger needs to work on? In that aviation sector Well, the new and it's gonna release. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, the new minister has Grilled out his five point agenda. I'm going to read them out Talking about Festus K. I'm a CN Ensure strict number one ensure strict compliance with safety regulations and continuous upward movement of Nigeria's rating by I cow a support for the growth and Sustainance of local airline businesses whilst holding them to the highest international standards in the aviation industry Number three is improvement of infrastructures in the aviation industry number four development of human capacity within the industry and number five is Optimizing revenue generation for the federal government. Do you think this aptly captures the situation in the aviation industry? And do you see this? Getting us out of the woods I actually do and the fifth and final point there is where we're going to because the state of affairs can only benefit from income generation and The first four like he said Needs to be in place before you can generate any income development of the people It's extremely extremely important. I'm working with a group of guys in the United States as we speak to to implement one or two things which I'll be showcasing in you in due time in due course So the IKL side of things and up in the the tier group of Nigerian Aviation You know, it's extremely important because one of the Excuses why Nigeria couldn't fly into other countries is because they don't have a category one or category a safety record and That definitely does help So, let's wait and see. Let's hope that those points on the face of it are if if manifested then Definitely, Nigeria stands to gain a whole lot in the aviation sector The UAE visa ban has it been lifted I don't believe so as of yesterday when I did check I'm not sure. I don't think it was So that's another thing that needs to Be worked on the the bilateral relationship between the UAE because Business is best done when the two parties are working amicably Hmm, what's your vision for Africa in the next five years? So I see Like so my motor is impossible is nothing. I've lived my life Based on those principles and so I I'm not one of those people that think nothing is impossible so I actually see a very great Nigerian aviation sector and it would not surprise me if We look back to this time and you know Say to ourselves that was the turning point because if the telecoms and banking sector could actually do this I see no reason why the Nigerian Aviation sector can't do it and there's there's been positive movements the African single African air transport market Nigeria's part of it. So about 34 countries in Africa I've signed up to the open sky policy and what the open sky policy does again is help creates tourism connectivity trade generates Economic growth and generally improves the living standards. So we are starting to see progress albeit very slow So my vision is that in the next five years, we will be in a much better better better place So what else should we look forward to from captain Lola Odunjer and you've achieved some great feats And you're a young man and as I said very proud very proud of your CV too. I am What what else should yeah, what else should we expect? What should we be looking forward to from you? I've got something amazing. I'm cooking Again, it's all in the line of Impossible is nothing You're you're very shortly gonna find out I can assure you all right. So fingers crossed watch this space Watching the space watching the space thinly captain Lola Odunjeri. So good to have you join us Thank you very much for your time. I do appreciate your time this morning. Yeah, and I do share your positivity. We're looking forward to the very best The new minister is someone I do respect Festus K. I'm with someone I do respect. I think he's an intelligent man and I'm also watching his space to see what he can deliver. Thank you so much for your time Thank you very much. All right. So that's the package you have for you today It is uh the technophile tuesday edition of the breakfast You just listen to captain Lola Odunjeri giving us some insight On what's happening in the aviation sector. I am moron men long ways ago and on behalf of the crew I say, thank you so much. Do join us tomorrow for another episode of the breakfast on plus tv africa. Good morning