Travel & Business News Partners Caverton Helicopters To Empower Youths.

Capt. Josiah Choms, MD, Caverton Helicopters (6^th Right) and Mr. Ewos Iroro, Editor, Travel & Business News (6^th Left) with the top ten winners of the 6^th Caverton Helicopters/National Travel Essay Competition (NTEC 2014/15). From left: Afolabi Oluwapelumi of MMASS in 3^rd place; Otti Faustina of Barachel Model College, Olambe, Ogun State in 6^th place; Oladiran Oluwabukola of International School (Unilag) Lagos in 4^th place; Olorunfemi-Ojo Daniel of MMASS in 9^th place; Oseni Naomi of Princeton College, Surulere, Lagos in 5^th place; Fagboyo Taiwo of Covenant University Secondary School (CUSS), Ota, Ogun State in 8^th place;  Arausi David also of CUSS, in 7^th place; Dada Sarah of Covenant Child College, Ijesha Tedo, Lagos in 10^th place; Halim Blessing of Princeton College, Surulere in 1^st place; and Kyllians Emmanuella also of MMASS in 2^nd place.

In line with its philosophy of Raising Future Aviation Professionals, Travel & Business News recently partnered with Caverton Helicopters as title sponsors to host the Grand Finale of the 6^th Caverton Helicopters/Travel & Business News National Travel Essay Competition (NTEC 2014/15) and 5^th Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES). The annual event which has come to be a regular feature in the aviation industry calendar, is geared towards fulfilling the aspirations of the Nigerian Local Content Initiative in an effort to bridge the skills gap and manpower shortage in the air transport sector; an initiative that is close to the heart of Caverton’s vision of building a professionally run Nigerian Company, by Nigerians and with Nigeria in mind. Hence the apt theme of the event: “Empowering The Next Generation of Aviation Professionals.”  

From left: Mr. Felix Anyanwu, IFAIMA Regional Director; Mr. Kofo Macaulay, Quality Manager, Bristow Helicopters; Capt. Josiah Choms, MD, Caverton Helicopters; Elder Gbenga Olowo, President, Sabre Travel Network; Mr. Basil Agboarumi, GM, Corporate Communications, SAHCOL; and Mrs. Titi Osimboni, Deputy Head, Resource Management, Caverton Helicopters.

The grand finale of the industry writing contest which held at the Training Centre of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Annex, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos on May 23, 2015, brought to a climax a six-month long process of entries being sent in by interested participants from Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions to compete for laurels in two separate categories. The topic for the Secondary Schools Category was; “Airport Development As A Stimulus For Economic Growth,” while that for Tertiary Institutions was; “Encouraging More Women Into Helicopter Aviation.”

Mr. Ewos Iroro, Editor, Travel & Business News, with winners of the 6^th Caverton Helicopters/Travel & Business News National Travel Essay Competition (NTEC 2014/15). From left:  Kyllians Emmanuella of Murtala Muhammed Airport Secondary School (MMASS), Ikeja in 2^nd place; Halim Blessing of Princeton College, Surulere in 1^st place; and Afolabi Oluwapelumi also of MMASS in 3^rd place.

Several high profile guests graced the occasion with their presence including Elder Gbenga Olowo, President/CEO, Sabre Travel Network; Capt. Josiah Choms, MD, Caverton Helicopters; Mrs. Anastasia Gbem, Director of Legal Services, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) and Mrs. Titi Osimboni, Deputy Head, Human Resource Management, Caverton Helicopters. Others are Mr. Felix Anyanwu, Regional Director, International Federation of Aeronautical Information Management Associations (IFAIMA); Mr. Basil Agboarumi, Head, Corporate Communications, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) and Mr. Kofo Macaulay, Head of Quality, Caverton Helicopters among others.

Chairman of the occasion, Elder Gbenga Olowo, opened the forum with passionate remarks by reminiscing on his days as a youngster and telling his story of how he was selected from a vast number of candidates and given an opportunity by Lufthansa German Airlines to follow a career in the travel industry. He noted that back then he had no idea about the industry until he was picked up and trained by the airline. “Looking back many decades ago today, we realise that the future of the aviation industry in Nigeria is in the hands of the next generation that is why we have supported this initiative since inception and continue to do so,” he said, adding: that “Ewos Iroro is doing a great job and I encourage more corporate organisations to partner with and support the good work he is doing.”

Capt. Choms and Halim Blessing

Speaking on the theme, Capt. Josiah Choms, MD, Caverton Helicopters, noted that Caverton Helicopters is a firm advocate of the age long principle of “Catching Them Young.” He noted that training of its personnel, with strong emphasis on the younger generation, is at the forefront of Caverton’s vision of being a first rate Nigerian Company offering the best quality of services to its clients in the Oil & gas and Air Transport sectors. He also used the forum to celebrate the company’s young stars that were trained and have achieved rare feats including the Youngest Female Helicopter Pilot, the Youngest Male Pilot and its Deputy Chief Pilot who all happen to be young Nigerians as well as its crop of young engineers. “In 2014 alone, we trained 13 Caverton Helicopter Engineers,” said Capt. Choms.

  

Founder and Coordinator of NTEC, Mr. Ewos Iroro, said: “Over the years, NTEC has succeeded in stimulating the interests of many young Nigerians for the air transport industry by engaging them through the writing contest as well as several schools outreach programmes and field trips.” He added that in line with the objectives of establishing the writing contest and youth empowerment forum, several of its past winners are now studying to follow a career in aviation notably Miss Peace Adeola, Winner, NTEC 2012/13 currently in China and Miss Karima Sowemimo, Winner, NTEC 2013/14, due to leave for the United States with both of them studying to become Aeronautical Engineers.

Capt. Choms with Kyllians Emmanuella

Written articles of participants were assessed and graded by a panel of Independent Assessors including Mr. Ayodele Ojo, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA); Mrs. Fola Akande, Chief Air Transport Officer (CATO), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Mrs. Modupe Oyerinde, DGM, Commercial & Statistics, NCAA; Mrs. Titi Osimboni, Deputy Head, Resource Management, Caverton Helicopters; and Mr. Basil Agboarumi, Head, Corporate Communications, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL).

Over Fifty (50) entries were received in all and of these; the top ten students were invited to the Grand Finale to compete for top honours through a session of oral assessments in defence of their written articles. The following winners eventually emerged in the Secondary Schools Category as follows: Halim Blessing of Princeton College, Surulere in 1^st place; Kyllians Emmanuella of Murtala Muhammed Airport Secondary School (MMASS), Ikeja in 2^nd place and Afolabi Oluwapelumi also of MMASS in 3^rd place.

Capt. Choms with Afolabi Oluwapelumi

Others are: Oladiran Oluwabukola of International School (Unilag) Lagos in 4^th place; Oseni Naomi of Princeton College, Surulere, Lagos in 5^th place; Otti Faustina of Barachel Model College, Olambe, Ogun State in 6^th place and Arausi David of Covenant University Secondary School (CUSS), Ota, Ogun State in 7^th place. Yet others were: Fagboyo Taiwo of Covenant University Secondary School (CUSS), Ota, Ogun State in 8^th place; Olorunfemi-Ojo Daniel of MMASS in 9^th place; and Dada Sarah of Covenant Child College, Ijesha Tedo, Lagos in 10^th place.

Halim Blessing, Winner of the Grand Prize for NTEC 2014/15 went home with a free ticket to Dubai courtesy of EgyptAir; plus a cash prize of N100,000. She also becomes the Industry Ambassador for the next one year and will participate in key industry programmes as well as carry out several youth centred functions. Second prize was N60,000 cash and a free return ticket to Ghana sponsored by Africa World Airlines (AWA); and the 3rd prize was a cash prize of N40,000 as well as a free return ticket to any destination nationwide sponsored by DANA Air. There were also cash prizes of N20,000 each for 4th - 6th positions and N10,000 each for 7th - 10th positions. EgyptAir also presented Special Discount Return Tickets to all of the remaining Finalists and members of their families to any destination on the airline’s network.

Karimat Sowemimo handing over to Halim Blessing

In the Tertiary Institutions Category, the following Winners emerged: Miss Eyiaro Mary, a Mass Communication Student of Yaba College of Technology in 1^st place; Mr. Igweonu Tobena, a Law Student of University of Lagos (Unilag) in 2^nd place and Miss Ayandele Janet, a Business Administration Student also of Unilag in 3^rd place. There was also a consolation 4^th prize which went to Miss Lawson Peace, a Law Student of the National Open University of Nigeria, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

 First prize winner, Eyiaro Mary went home with a cash prize of N150,000 cash and an all expenses paid trip to South Africa courtesy of African Business Travel Association (ABTA). The second prize was N100,000 cash with a free ticket to Ghana also courtesy of Africa World Airlines (AWA). Third prize was N50,000 cash prize and a free ticket to any destination in Nigeria sponsored by DANA Air. The highpoint of the event came when the MD of Caverton Helicopters, Capt. Choms, announced a free helicopter flight experience for top winners of the contest in the company of two teachers and organisers of the event.

Temitope Coker congratulates Eyiaro Mary

Mrs. Titi Osimboni, Deputy Head, Resource Management, Caverton Helicopters was presented with an award by the organisers in recognition of her unflinching support for the success of the contest and the overall hosting of the event.  Immediate past Winners of the competition were also presented with awards of recognition for being worthy ambassadors for the past one year. They include Miss Karimat Sowemimo, Winner, NTEC 2013/14 in the Secondary Schools Category and Miss Temitope Coker, Winner NTEC 2013/14 in the Tertiary Institutions Category.

Capt. Choms presents an award to Temitope Coker

Many thanks go to our Sponsors, notably Caverton Helicopters, our Title Sponsors, who helped immensely to make NTEC 2014/2015 Grand Finale and Youth Empowerment Seminar a resounding success. Others include EgyptAir; the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc. (NAHCo); and Africa World Airlines (AWA). Others are; Sabre Travel Network; Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN); Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL); Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA); and Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).

     

The National Travel Essay Competition (NTEC) is a Future Workforce Development Initiative (FWDI) of Travel & Business News. The 2015/2016 edition of the contest is scheduled to open on October 5, 2015.