Buhari’s ‘Go Slow’ Bites As Lufthansa Sacks 13 Nigerian Pilot Trainees

Despite repeated claim by President Muhamadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress, that the current administration is not slow, latest events are beginning to prove them wrong.

This is as 13 Nigerians from the Niger Delta region undergoing commercial point training at the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Frankfurt, have been sent away for non-payment of fees.

Buhari is yet to appoint a Special Adviser on Niger Delta, who doubles as the chairman of the PAP and the chief executive of the agency, a situation affecting beneficiaries of the scheme.

But the sacking of the trainee pilots is a dangerous development because the ex-militants were looking forward to having a career after dropping their arms.

Vanguard reports that the Nigerian pilots who would have graduated from the prestigious aviation training institution, were asked to go last Friday due to their inability to pay for accommodation and training logistics.

Apart from that, six of the pilots who had already completed their training had their licenses withheld by the school.

Two of the students sent home for non-payment, had only one test to complete their Programme for Commercial Pilot Licence, one was in his final stage of the CPL test while four had just started their type rating test and would have completed next month.

A source at the PAP confirmed to Vanguard yesterday that there was money in the account of the agency with the Central Bank of Nigeria but that there was no signatory to authorize the payment to the beneficiaries.

Former SA on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku had in May written Buhari to either allow him to pay the May financial obligations or appoint a new signatory for the account.

Buhari, however, looked the other way claiming he has not found any corrupt-free Nigerian to fill the position.

The ex-militants, spread around learning institutions in Nigeria and around the world, collect a monthly salary of N65,000.