But above all else, it is a product of a mere accident of history dating back to 1925 in the unlikeliest of places – the ancient, walled city of Kano.

On sensing the trouble in Kano, London swiftly signalled the commanding officer of the Khartoum RAF Squadron, instructing him to fly to the Northern Nigerian city and report on the situation.

Flying a Bristol fighter, the pilot made a breath- taking but safe landing on the horse race course in Kano, thus going down in history as the first recorded aviation activity in Nigeria.

Records show that he frequently undertook high-risk flights between Kano and Lagos, using the rail tracks as his guide and piling up extra distance in the process.

After some repairs the aircraft was flown out and again placed in service: Records show that it usually took a whole day to fly from Kano to Lagos in a DH8, considering its early technology and en route refuelling stops.

The control and administration of Civil Aviation were vested in the Directorates of Public Works of these countries who applied United Kingdom Colonial Air Navigator orders as their legislative authority.

[7] When dealing with the complete range of complex systems in use for safety of air traffic services in the environment, every minute detail is taken into account in planning for maintenance infrastructures and logistic support.

The maintenance, repairs, modification etc., of all analogue units are carried out with conventional measuring apparatus such as traditional multi-meters, generators, oscilloscopes, etc.

The procurement, proper storage and easy retrieval of spare parts are a primary responsibility of the stores unit of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.

In view of the very large volume of spare parts stocked for every system, there are plans to computerize this sector in order to enhance performance.