Aviation professionals, under the aegis of Women in Aviation International (WAI), Glowing Wings Chapter, want young girls to explore the wide range of career opportunities in the aviation industry, stressing that the sector is no longer a male-dominated profession.
Speaking at this year’s WAI Annual Girls in Aviation Day programme, held at the Command Day Secondary School, Ikeja Cantonment in Lagos with the theme: ‘She Can Fly: Dream, Discover and Soar’ they maintained that their goal is to encourage more girls to take up career in aviation.
The event brought together more than 80 students from four secondary schools for career talks and interaction with female aviation professionals.
President of WAI Glowing Wings Chapter, Mrs Evelyn Njoku, represented by the Vice President, Mrs Folashade Akande, said the programme was designed to expose girls to aviation at an early age and encourage them to consider careers in the sector.
She said aviation offered opportunities beyond piloting and cabin crew, including air traffic control, aircraft engineering, meteorology, aviation security, flight dispatch, airport management, aviation law, public affairs and safety investigation.
Mrs Njoku urged the students to take advantage of the opportunity to learn about the industry, ask questions and build relationships with aviation professionals who could guide them in their careers.
The DGM, AIS Control Unit of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mrs Lilian Ezetendu, also exposed the students to the role of Aeronautical Information Services (AIS) in aviation safety.
She explained that AIS provides and distributes critical information used by pilots, air traffic controllers and other aviation professionals, including aeronautical charts, flight information and Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs).
Ezetendu described AIS as the information backbone of aviation, noting that pilots depend on accurate and timely information on routes, runways, navigation facilities and other changes in the airspace before and during flight operations.
The CEO of Aviatrix Hub and US-certified flight dispatcher, Mrs Victoria Adegbe, shared her career journey with the students, urging them not to allow gender or perceived academic limitations to stop them from pursuing aviation careers.
Adegbe, who began her aviation career as a flight dispatcher, said she was among the early female flight dispatchers in Nigeria and later established an aviation training school.