Two under-graduates of the newly established Kwara State University in Malete have recorded a major research breakthrough with the design and construction of a light aircraft which is due for a test flight next. UMAR BAYO ABDULWAHAB reports.

Just less than five years after the establishment of its Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Kwara State University (KWASU) Malete is breaking new grounds in the aviation sector.
Justifying the creation of the department which is the first and only one in any Nigerian university, two students of the department have performed a feat with the design and construction of a light engine aircraft.

The constructed aircraft is due for a test flight in the first quarter of 2022. They did not just stop at that, taking into consideration the post-impact fire as a major cause of death in an air crash, a professor of the university’s Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Engineer Abdulbaki Jinadu, and the two students he supervises, Ayodeji Akangbe Tunde and Haleem Olamide Olatinwo had invented ways to contaminate aviation fuel to prevent crashed aeroplanes from bursting into flames and kill its passengers.

Also, the same Engr Jinadu and another set of students he supervisees, Samuel Kayode Olagunju, Abdulhafeez Opeyeni Salisu and Oluwaseun Aderugbemi Adeniyi had remodelled the mid-section of the Boeing 737 fuselage that houses the main fuel tank in a way that reduces explosions in the event aeroplane.

These research  breakthroughs are coming just one year after a 400- level student of the same department, Muftau Roqeeb Aderogba constructed and flew a drone using local materials.

Cheering news from VC
The vice-chancellor (VC) of the university, Prof Mohammed Akanbi, dropped the latest  cheering news at a pre-convocation press briefing ahead of it’s just concluded 8th and 9th combined convocation recently where a total of 6,620 students graduated with 98 of them also bagging First Class honours.

The vice-chancellor said the state-owned Ilorin International College of Aviation was providing support to the innovation ahead of the test run of the constructed flight in the first quarter of 2022.

“Our university is setting the pace in aircraft engineering in Nigeria. Two students, Abdulzahir Okinobanyi Usman and Israel Oluwagbemi Adeniyi under the supervision of Professor AbdulGaniyu Alabi designed and constructed a light aircraft. The one-seater turbo propeller engine aircraft is set to attain an attitude of 13,000 feet, 220Km/h speed. The light aircraft which is the first of it’s kind in the university will soon be ready for a test flight.”

AbdulRazaq delighted
Delighted about the development, Kwara state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq  said his administration has secured funding for the completion of the two campuses of the state university at Osi and Ilesha Baruba.

According to him, “Completing the two campuses would open up the state, create new economic centres and boost the search for knowledge and inquiry in the state. 
The governor was speaking at the combined 8th and 9th convocation ceremony of the university.
Speaking further he said, “Our administration has secured funding to complete the satellite campuses of KWASU at Osi and Ilesha Baruba by next year. This would not only grow the university in terms of the number of faculties and students, but also help to open up those two communities, tackle rural-urban migration, and create new fertile grounds for intellectual and socioeconomic growth,” he said.

AbdulRazaq commended the university for its commitment to research and community service, saying, “Two different events have recently told the success story that KWASU has become. The first was a short video showing a team from the institution teaching some secondary school students in Irepodun the art of making documentaries. In it, we saw how those students then did a beautiful documentary of their own.

“The second cheering news was the inspiring story of two students, who designed a light engine aircraft. The big deal is that these students and their supervisors are going ahead to invent a technology that immediately contaminates the aviation fuel and reduces explosion when an aircraft crashes. When this succeeds, it opens a new chapter in aviation history and places Kwara on the global map of invention.

“What these confirm is that KWASU has truly become a university of community impact. I congratulate the university on this steady growth. It is my hope that the school would continue along this path. We would always support you,” the governor said.

Turning to the graduates, the governor said, “To our graduates, we hope to see you at the top soon. Always remember that you are from Malete, where you have been moulded to make positive impacts in your communities. I urge you to be great ambassadors of this school. May God see you through,” he concluded.

In need of assistance
To ensure that this major research breakthrough did not end on the shelves like many others in the country, the KWASU vice-chancellor said the school is assisting the researchers to mobilise funds for the projects.
He said Tettfund and other organisations including friends of the university have been approached with applications to assist with funds to carry out the project.

He said the university noted for community development  is fast-growing under his stewardship in terms of academic growth, community development and staff welfare.

Investigation reveals that not less than 16 new programmes have been developed to expand the frontiers of knowledge and human ingenuity, according to the vice-chancellor.

“In the effort to further expand the university’s academic programmes, 16 new programmes have been developed by the university and are awaiting resource verification by the NUC. “These proposed programmes have the combined capacity to generate the much-needed human resources in the diverse areas of their focus, which would, in turn, drive national growth,” he added.

Akanbi said the institution was one of the few tertiary institutions that ran uninterrupted sessions in the heat of the COVID-19 lockdowns (using virtual platforms).
The VC said against all odds, the university is providing an enabling environment for teaching and learning warning that university authorities would not tolerate students who are not ready to be moulded.

To demonstrate the school’s zero tolerance for social vices, Akanbi said 87 students were expelled from the institution for various offences ranging from armed robbery, internet fraud, exam malpractices, among others. The combined convocation produced 6,620 First Degree earners, 98 of whom bagged First Class.
Borno state governor, Professor Babagana Umar  Zulum who attended the convocation also commended the management of Kwara State University for the remarkable achievements so far recorded in infrastructural and educational development. 

“This morning (Saturday), we attended the Kwara State University convocation ceremony where one of our own illustrious sons was awarded an honorary doctorate degree,” the governor said.

“The university is a relatively new university but in terms of infrastructure, in terms of physical development and educational development, the university has gone far,” he noted