Meet Kano-Born Pilot Who Flew First Emirates Flight Back To Nigeria After Two-Year Break

On Tuesday, Capt. Mohammed Madugu, a Nigerian Born Pilot, was in the cockpit for Emirates as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag carrier touched down in Nigeria after over two years of exiting the route.

The airline used to operate to Lagos and Abuja until September 30, 2022 when it suspended operations citing inability to repatriate trapped funds amounting to over $80m at the time.

The UAE also slammed a visa ban on Nigerians which effectively stalled Nigerian-UAE flights as Air Peace and other carriers stopped operating to UAE from Nigeria.

The resolution of the dispute between Nigeria and the UAE was prioritized by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and driven by the driven by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo.

Daily Trust reports that after the federal cleared the foreign airlines’ trapped funds of about $900m and held series of meetings with the Emirates, the UAE carrier announced in May of its plan to resume flights operation to Nigeria on October 1 which coincided with the national day of Nigeria.

At about 3:32 pm local time, the Boeing 737-300er touched down at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA), Lago,s signaling the return of Emirates to Nigeria.

And what appeared to be a symbolic gesture, a Nigerian in person of Capt. Mohammed Madugu was in the cockpit alongside other crew members.

Madugu gleefully posted a video of his landing at the MMIA on Tuesday with the caption on his X page (formerly Twitter): “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.”

He had earlier announced on his X that it was an honour for him to operate the inaugural return flight to Lagos.

“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 8hours today. #EkoOniBaje,” 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 8hours today. #EkoOniBaje pic.twitter.com/Ny3dhj7Nq5

— -SSM (@Moha_Madugu) October 1, 2024

Incidentally Capt. Madugu had granted an interview with Daily Trust sometimes in 2016 when he was working with Azman Airline. He was then the youngest Captain in the Nigerian airline industry.

Born on September 21, 1996, Madugu is an indigene of Kano and son of Alhaji Sani Madugu.

During an encounter with Daily Trust in 2016, he had said his passion for flying started at six or seven when he had the opportunity of looking at an aircraft cockpit.

“It all started a very long time ago. When I was between six and seven years, we were flying to Kano for Sallah, as we usually do every Sallah. We got to Kano and my father took me to the cockpit of the aircraft. I think he knew the pilot or something and I was amazed seeing the cockpit, that is all I can remember. But that day, going into the cockpit really blew my mind.

“As I was there, I took a look at everything, I imagined how one could learn everything, all the buttons so on. 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. I could see planes take off everyday, even here in FESTAC then, and that encouraged me to go into the aviation industry. As I grew older, it just occurred to me that it is the perfect lifestyle for me,” he said.

The Junior Madugu attended Corona School in Apapa, Lagos, Laurel International School at FESTAC Town, Lagos and the Nigerian Turkish International College before going abroad for pilot training.