…Graduates 5,000 in nine years
…As Academy achieves 75% success int’l Exams
…Holds maiden Job Fair in Lagos to mark 9th anniversary
The Group Managing Director of Finchglow Holdings, Mr Bernard Bankole has stated that the Lagos Aviation Academy (LAA) was established to impact on lives and not for the sake of Return on Investment (ROI).
He stated this in an interview during a Job Fair organised by LAA with the theme,” Connecting Talents to Opportunities” at the school premises in Lagos.
LAA, an Aviation Training Organisation (ATO)as part of efforts to mark its nine years anniversary introduced an interactive Job Fair, where potential employers meet potential employees to discuss and advice the students, potential employees on what employers look out for during job interviews,
Speaking on what prompted the programme for graduates of LAA, he said, “You know, I have a guiding principle in life, which is, if you don’t say, here I am, nobody will say, there you are. Which means that you have to constantly announce your presence. And as a leader, you have to constantly be thinking of new ideas, new initiatives that will impact the lives of the people around you.
“And so far so good, that has remained our journey. In the last nine years, the whole concept was not to set up LAA because we wanted to make more money. LAA was set up to impact lives.”
Speaking further, he said, “There are a lot of people that are looking for meaning to their lives. Even their parents, uncles don’t even know what to say to them, because they’ve graduated from school. And now that they are done with school, they don’t even know what they can do with their lives.
“They are saying there are no jobs. Forgetting that there are some specific training you need to get. And that’s what gave birth to the Lagos Aviation Academy vision, ” he said.
On the number of students LAA has trained in the last nine years, Bernard said, ” In that journey of nine years, we have graduated over 5,000 students. It’s something were very proud of. We are proud of it because we have been able to draw people, qualified hands, into the labour market to add their own value, their own voices to the industry they once admired but now they love.
On the level at which the training institution has been able to impact lives, Bernard said that the school has students practically in all the airlines and in the different travel agencies in the country.
According to him, “We have our students in practically all the airlines. We have our students in different travel agencies. It is a great achievement for us that we could even get dream of it and bring it to life.”
“Now there are a lot of other people that wish they could set up something like this. But what they look at that is critical to them is the ROI. But if you make everything all about ROI, then where do you put the place where you impact lives? So, for us it is not about the ROI,” he said categorically.
“For us it is about the impact we make in the lives of people. And prosperity will judge whether we have done well or not. For us, this is still the beginning of a lot of things to come,” he added.
Fielding question on the invitation of some stakeholders by LAA to talk to the students, and if there is any deal between the the school and these partners, Bernard, stated that in celebrating its nine years anniversary, it was agreed that the celebration should not be about party and glamour.
He pointed out that what LAA has done is in tandem with the the school’s policy of impacting lives.
“You know what, rather than have the party and all the glamour, why don’t we convert it to a seminar and a job fair where potential employers can meet potential employees. That is the best way we feel we should celebrate,” he said.
The students, he said are looking forward to it, adding that it is the very first Job Fair the school will be organising to mark its 9th anniversary.
“We want to see what it will be like. When we see there is something that is phenomenal, then we can then now take it to another stage, another level,” Bernard said
On the challenges the institution has been facing in the last nine years and whether he has been to able to impact lives satisfactory, the Finchglow boss, said, “I have not been able to do it to my satisfaction. And the singular reason I would say that is were are talking a population of about 230 million people. If I had a population of over 230 million people, 10% of that would be 23 million. 5% of that would be about 11 million plus.
” We have only done about 5,000 people. So that tells you that it’s still a very fragile part. But I believe that if there are one, two, three of us like this that are driving this kind of vision, it will have more impact on the society at large,” he added.
Also speaking, the Head of School, LAA,
Bolaji, Durojaye,stated that LAA students have achieved 75 per cent rate in international examinations.
According to him, ” Our success has been built on a foundation of excellence, evidenced by our achievement as a leading ATO in Nigeria and our commitment to student performance, which has resulted in over 75% success rate in international exams, including producing students with the best result in the IATA Foundation Programme in March 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024. We were also awarded the aviation school of the year in 2025 having trained over 5,000 students over the past nine years.”
He reiterated that
today, Nigerians gathered under Job Fair with the theme, “Connecting Talent to Opportunity”
He said that the Job Fair is designed to create meaningful engagement and bridge the gap between aviation employers and its diverse pool of ambitious, licensed, and career-ready professionals.
He listed the attendees to include licensed cabin crew, flight dispatchers, ticketing and reservation specialists, and other aspiring aviation talents eager to transition into the professional space.
He commended and acknowledgment the presence of industry partners and guests, adding that their participation are vital to strengthening industry-academia collaboration within the aviation sector.
“We are honoured to host organisations such as Aero-Lead, Travelden, BTM, Valuejet Airlines, FCM, Threshold Edge Ltd, Finchglow Travels, Finchglow Holidays and others who have come forward to share career insights and explore recruitment opportunities with our students and alumni. Thank you for recognising the value and calibre of the talent LAA produces,” he said.
Speaking to Ontimenewsng.com, at the fair, Chinwendu Gemma, LAA alumni, studied cabin crew, said that what she learnt today is that there are
many opportunities and there is an opportunity for every person.
“It’s just how you present yourself and how you adapt to the career pathway of your choices. And it can be possible if you are willing to take that bold step,” she said.
Speaking on whether she will recommend to friends, she said, “Of course, I recommend LAA. I do recommend LAA to everyone that I know, my friends. And I currently have a friend that is trying to enroll or will enroll to LAA because the school is not just training professionals. It also creates this comfortable environment that lets everyone express themselves, see value in what they can actually do and achieve in the future.”
She said that her intention is to get her career moving as a carbon crew,adding that she plans to become a flight attendant one day.
She pointed out that it is a bold step for her to uphold and plan for the future .
Advising students and potential students, she said, “I advise them to have the passion for the job and an industry, which they want to see themselves in tomorrow. Because if you’re registered for something and you want to do something and you don’t have the passion for it, you won’t be interested. So you need to exhibit that passion first before you do it,” she said.
On his part, Temitope MoritIwon, who is also a cabin crew at LAA, said it was a very great experience for him during his stay at the training institution.
On how life has been after graduation, he said, “Since I graduated from LAA, I’ have had a change of mentality. I have been able to know a lot of things, meet people that I didn’t have opportunity to meet before. I have v been able to have a change of mindset because while I was here, there was a lot of impact from our instructors and our lives.”
“Coupled with the passion and the mindset you have, when you graduate, it might not be easy at first during your stay, but at the end, your mentality will change. Your spirit, mind will be uplifted. And at the end of the day, you find out that, yes, your sky is only your beginning,” he added
On whether LAA has impacted in him, MoritIwon said that
before he came to LAA, he didn’t know a lot of things that he knows today but that during his one month stay at the academy, his life has been really impacted positively.
He added during the drills, during the class lectures, or during the stay here, it was 100 per cent life-changing experience for him.
He advised anyone that wants to come into the school to follow his or her heart, passion, mind, and be fully determined to do so.
MoritIwon, who rated LAA very high, advised students and intending students to be focused.
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