Tag: Ibrahim Mshelia

  • Pilot canvasses public private partnership as solution to infrastructure deficit

    Governorship Aspirant in Borno State under the Labour Party and Chief Executive of WestLink Airlines, Captain Ibrahim Mshelia,  has said that Public Private Partnership  (PPP), if handled transparently is a lofty idea and would help the nation  improve on infrastructure deficit.

    Mshelia who is chairman at the National Union of Air a Transport Employees (NUATE) 10th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference holding in Asaba, Delta State made this known when he gave the opening address.

    The aspirant however said the concept is not catching on in Nigeria due largely to shoddy and lopsided agreements that have stalled the development of the arrangement from the controversies that bedeviled Maevis to the one generated in the BiCourtney agreement.

    Mshelia said, “On the surface, this is a very lofty idea. If done transparently, we all should encourage it because that is the modern practice in all fast growing economies across the world. ”

    “However, the PPP seems not to be walking on the fast lane in the Nigerian aviation sector. This is largely due to shoddy and lopsided packages that oftentimes constitute grave and lethal therapy for the growth of the sector. ”

    “Examples fresh in our minds today are the controversies that bedevil the Maevis and Bicortney contracts. There is no gain saying that the sector can only succeed in the drive towards PPP when we have a government that is answerable to the people in place. ”

    Read Also: Senator advocates private, public partnership in ICT

    According to him, a Public Private Partnership  (PPP) arrangement involves the private sector  in aspects  of  the  provision  of infrastructure assets and or Services, new or existing that have traditionally been provided by the government.

    Stating that through such private engagements, governments broaden their options  for  delivering  better  services to its people and  increase  the  economic  multiplier effects while the private sector provides finance and  expertise to  ease  fiscal  constraints  and  increase efficiency .

    He further called on the unions to begin marking out plans to make their umbrella party, the Labour Party (LP) great by working to instal a responsive, responsible, intellectual and worker friendly government, stating that’s why he entered the fray for Borno State Governorship.

    He said,”The upcoming election is around the corner. We need to begin to mark out plans and back them with actions to ensure we grow our own party, The Labour Party (LP), to relevance, so that through that platform we can install a government that will be responsive, responsible and workers friendly. ”

    “Sequel to this drive, I want to implore that as we are looking unto NUATE to turn out a new set of leaders to pilot the affairs of the aviation workers for another four years from this assembly, we must not also loose focus on the ultimate goal of installing our own government and marshal our programs towards that target.”

    “Some of us have already begun the move by taking the bold step to creating the change that we all desire. I am happy to inform you, as my first constituency, that I will be contesting to be the Executive Governor of Borno State under our party, the Labour Party come 2019.”

    “I greet all of you here with the message of hope, optimism and change that can be brought about by purposeful and focused leadership. That is what you and I are offering to our nation. I have this strong conviction that the Nigerian workers have all it takes to drive the country away from this track of perdition.”

  • Mshelia commiserates with Borno indigenes over Bayo bridge damage

    Gubernatorial Aspirant under the Labour Party, Captain Ibrahim Mshelia has commiserated with the people of Borno State over the damage of one end of the Biryel Long Bridge in Bayo Local Government  which has isolated the people of the state.

    This is just as he has appealed to the Federal and State governments to swiftly attend to the damaged bridge which hitherto was the only motorable link between Southern Borno with other parts of Borno and Gombe States, emphasizing that the current disfunction will inflict more hardship on the people.

    No lives were reportedly lost when the bridge collapsed, and Mshelia expressed joy at that fact but insists that certain parts of the state have been suffering economic hardships for nearly 20years as a result of dilapidated roads and other infrastructural deficits and neglect.

    He, however, called for calm and patience stating that those infrastructural deficits will be  strategically handled as there will be investment in infrastructure and people-oriented programs once the people look beyond party names and vote right for those determined to get the state working again.

    Read Also: Insurgents burn 40 houses in Borno

    “My heart goes out to the people of Borno State, particularly the areas whose movement and economic activities are now affected as a result of the damage to the Biryel Long Bridge in Bayo Local Government due to the heavy down pour resulting in the flood on Saturday which damaged the bridge.

    “We understand the hardship it is going to cost especially for those who have to traverse between those points to meet up their daily economic and social needs. That is why we are calling on the Federal Government of our able President Buhari and indeed the Governor of the state, his excellency Kashim Shettima to rush to the scene and fix the link bridge without further delay so as to forestall further hardship to the people.”

    “Personally, I am also calling for calm as things are silently being done under the President Buhari-led administration, this is my personal believe and conviction because things have improved a lot security-wise in the state and the president is silently achieving certain goals, all he needs is the right support, our support as a people not just voting him but insisting he and those he appoints do what is right to get us out of the doldrums.”

  • Labour party aspirant canvass support for Buhari

    A Labour Party governorship aspirant in Borno State, Captain Ibrahim Mshelia has canvassed support for the re- election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Mshelia said his support for Buhari was predicated on the persona of the President, which has earned him respect in his drive to transform the country.

    Speaking in an interview at the weekend in Lagos, the pilot turned politician said Buhari’s developmental ideology has put the country on the right track.

    He said: “A nation or person with no ideology is not going deliver social justice to its people. look at the work done quietly by Buhari, it’s because he does not collect kickbacks or bribe that’s why contractors dare not to deliver. Look at the railway from Warri to Abuja, go and see roads abandoned in Abuja now all completed if not near completion.

    “We cannot afford to continue to allow men with no ideology to run the affairs of a country with beautiful ideology like Nigeria. See how evidently the politicians have shown themselves by the series of defection and counter defections; it’s all about them and not the country. We are wiser now and God has used Buhari to show us that indeed development is easily achieved if you elect a leader and that will not take bribe.

    Read Also: Mimiko’s return excites Labour Party

    “Let us therefore not continue to allow the mismanagement of our dear country by people who have had inferior patriotism, knowledge and ideas to take it forward.

    “Everyone needs to pool together and save our country and if every good person sits on the sidelines, the country will not get saved.”

    On his aspirations as governor of Borno State, Captain Mshelia said his ambition was borne out of the selfless reason to change the narrative in his home state of Borno, especially with the current humanitarian situation there.

    He said, “Borno has a lot to give and it would take ideas, dexterity and a hands-on approach to ensure that the state becomes viable again through its agrarian resources and trade. If harnessed right we have a comparative advantage in farm produce and we can tap into that and utilise it to develop the state.

    “This   is one of the reasons I have thrown my hat in the race under Labour Party.

  • Mish Aviation tackles dearth of pilots in Africa

    Mish Aviation tackles dearth of pilots in Africa

    The Chief Executive Officer of Mish Aviation Flying School, Ghana, Capt. Ibrahim Mshelia, says the school has graduated over 30 pilots and that there are plans to increase the capacity to 40 this year and 60 in 2020.

    He said training professional aviators is a passion borne out of balancing the scales between African and European professionals, as well as tackling the acute dearth of manpower in the airline industry.

    He made this known at in Accra, Ghana at the Sixth International Business Conference with the theme, “Achieving the Africa entrepreneurial success” organised by Aspire Africa.

    He said: “Training has been a passion of mine and it is my goal, now our goal at Mish to actually give back to the industry that nurtured us by grooming and training the next generation of pilots as well as aviation administrators in the region.”

    Mshelia, who was represented by the Director of Special Duties, Mish Aviation, Sam Winful, said it his passion to see Africans rise to the challenge of flying the latest and best technology and the only way that can be achieved is through training.

    Meanwhile, the flying school managed by a Nigerian, has bagged the Aviation Training Excellence in Africa award and a medallion for Outstanding Leadership Qualities.”

    On the award, the Mish Aviation boss said it was apt for the flying school, adding that it would go a long way to encouraging the staff to continuously do their utmost,

    “Well, let me express gratitude on behalf of my staff and crew, as  being singled out to be honoured is an indication  that the flying school was making significant progress and one that we intend to sustain in the coming years.”