Chinedu Eze
In a partnership programme with the College of Postgraduate Studies, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria, Sabre Network West Africa has commenced its Master in Business Administration (MBA) in Airline and Travels Management, two years after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The 2019/2020 session commenced yesterday. In light of this, Babcock has become the first university in Nigeria to offer such a course in aviation and the programme is expected to run for 18 months.
Students who enrol for the programme would be trained on Managerial Economics, Organisation Behaviour, Management Theory, Aviation Safety and Security, Essential of Airline Training and Technology, Fundamental of Airline Operations, amongst others.
The President, Sabre Network West Africa, Dr. Gbenga Olowo, said the MBA programme was open to all holders of the first-degree certificate in any discipline across the world.
Olowo, also gave an assurance that the programme would be of great benefit to Nigeria’s aviation industry. He further explained that the company chose Babcock because of its integrity and willingness to work with the organisation.
“We are expecting as many as many people. In fact, we are thinking of 180 million Nigerians. Luckily, there is no university in Nigeria or on the continent that runs this programme. So, we are pioneering his programme,” Olowo said.
“Nigeria has placed a huge emphasis on pilots and engineers training which constitutes its major cost. Hopefully, the economic health of our airlines will improve with the influx of would-be graduates into the industry,” Olowo added.
He said Sabre had been desirous in filling manpower shortage especially in commercial aviation where Airline Wealth is generated. The failures in this sector in Nigeria, according to him, was regrettably, due to an aging work-force and a very poor knowledge of Airline Economics.
Classes for the new session would commence on Sunday September 8, 2019, and intending students were requested to visit its website to apply for the programme.
“Establishing early warning and response surveillance platforms to address all health emergencies in a timely and effective manner towards supporting public health emergency preparedness and response are pivotal to our work”, Dr John Nkengasong, Director, Africa CDC said.
“Our partnership with ARC will consolidate this effort and provide a good synergy to support Member States in health emergencies response in addition to promoting critical partnerships to address emerging and endemic diseases and other public health emergencies”
The Africa CDC supports all African Countries to improve surveillance, emergency response, and prevention of infectious diseases.
This includes addressing outbreaks, man-made and natural disasters, and public health events of regional and international concern. It further seeks to build the capacity to reduce disease burden on the continent.
It is a specialised technical institution of the African Union that serves as a platform for Member States to share knowledge, exchange lessons learnt, build capacity, and provide technical assistance to each other.
