“I Have The Honour”: Meet Kano-Born Pilot Who Flew First Emirates Flight into Nigeria after 2 Years

• Emirates Airline returned to Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos after two years break
• The inaugural return flight to Nigeria was handled by a Kano state-born pilot, Capt. Mohammed Madugu
• Capt. Madugu said it is a very special day for him and an honour to operate our inaugural return flight to Lagos, Nigeria

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Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international events

Lagos state - A Nigerian-born pilot, Capt. Mohammed Madugu flew the inaugural return flight of Emirates Airline to the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, after two years of suspension.

Emirate Airlines suspended its operations in Nigeria on September 30, 2022, citing the inability to repatriate trapped funds amounting to over $80m at the time.

After President Bola Ahmed Tinubu cleared the foreign airlines’ trapped funds of about $900m and held series of meetings, the Emirate touched down in Lagos at about 3:32 pm local time.

Announcing the return of the Emirates flight to Nigeria, Madugu via his X handle (formerly known as Twitter) @Moha_Madugu, wrote:

“A great plane spotter got my landing into Lagos today. Landed off an RNAV approach today as the ILS was on test. Watching this video you’ll realize the amount of work the Emirates training department does on their pilots. Alhamdulillah.”

In a previous tweet, he wrote:

“A very special day for me today, I have the honor of operating our inaugural return flight to Lagos, Nigeria 🇳🇬 @LOSairport. Today I’ll be flying both the Emirates and Nigerian flag very high 🇦🇪 🇳🇬 ! Thank you, Emirates A flight time of slightly over 8 hours today. #EkoOniBaje.”

The following facts were obtained from a 2016 interview, Madugu had with Daily Trust.

Date of birth

Capt. Mohammed Madugu was born on September 21, 1996.

Madugu is an indigene of Kano and the son of Alhaji Sani Madugu.

Education

Madugu attended Corona School in Apapa, Lagos, and Laurel International School at FESTAC Town, Lagos.

He also attended Nigerian Turkish International College before going abroad for pilot training.

Work experience

Capt. Madugu was the youngest Captain in the Nigerian airline industry when he worked with Azman Airline in 2016.

Developed passion for flying at 6

He said he developed passion for flying at the age of six after his father took me to the cockpit during a trip to Kano for Sallah celebration.

“After that encounter, maybe once in a year, I had the opportunity to look at the cockpit again and again. From that time my love for planes started growing”

Nigerians react as Emirate Airline charges in dollars

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Nigerian travel agents are reporting slow sales of Emirate Airlines tickets ahead of flight resumptions on October 1, 2024.

The airline opened its ticket inventories in dollars, which travel agents say may be responsible for the slow response.

Another factor agents said may be slowing ticket sales is the UAE’s strict visa rules.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng