Getting Drone License In Nigeria could kill you

What Nigeria cannot do does not exist

I remember reading a book by the Nigerian Journalist; Ayo Sogunro titled “Everything in Nigeria is designed to kill you. Well, there is another saying that “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.

Well, Like Falz sang, “This is Nigeria; Anything you see, “take am like dat”

Flying or owning a drone isn’t exactly banned in Nigeria. It is just heavily regulated. Well, Let's hear from the mouth of the King.

“[No] government agency, organisation or an individual will launch an RPA/UAV in the Nigerian airspace for any purpose whatsoever without obtaining the requisite permit from the NCAA and ONSA. The NCAA wishes to reiterate that all applicants and holders of permits to operate RPA/Drones must strictly be guided by safety guidelines. In addition, operators must ensure strict compliance with the conditions stipulated in their permits and the requirements of the Nig. CARs” (Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations).

Here are some of the regulations as listed in the NCAA guidebook:

1. Drones weighing more than 250 grams must be registered with the NCAA.

2. You must have a registered business incorporated with the CAC; that is the Corporate Affairs Commission. Don’t laugh yet; The Business must have a share value of over 20 million shares. You can laugh now

3. Do you have a criminal record? Then forget about qualifying for a license as it is required that you fill a Personal History Statement (PHS) with the Nigerian Security Agency (NSA). It is safe to say that the NCAA is collaborating with the NSA to ensure that you do not plan to cause harm with your drones.

4. You must pay a non-refundable processing fee of 500,000 Naira to the NCAA

5. Next you must wait for six months for your permit to be issued by the Air transport Licensing Committee.

So now, We do not know which is more difficult:

For Arsenal to win the premier league, Donald Trump to stop tweeting, or to get a PASS from the NCAA.

Well we know Nigeria, If you haven’t Prayed. Fasted and hustled to achieve something, you haven’t lived life as a Nigerian yet.

After all, What God cannot do does not exist.

What Else I’m doing:

I will be finally getting around to starting the Google Course on Coursera On product Design. You can check out the course here.

Finally, Caught my breath after managing a one-month STEAM Summer camp with Brainiacs STEM and Robotics. You can read more about them here.

What I am also looking forward to self-decorating my apartment. So you can leave me any comments here on what you think might look good.

See you on Friday.

P.S. This article is part of a September writing challenge