TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor,  Nyesom Wike, has declared that the State Government would sponsor Rivers citizens to study at the Ethiopian Aviation Academy, a subsidiary of the Ethiopian Airlines Group. 
Speaking during his recent visit to the corporate headquarters of Ethiopian Airlines at Addis Ababa, Governor Wike said that Rivers State Government would train its indigenes to become aviation professionals.
He said that as an emerging regional aviation hub, the State Government would groom professionals to drive the process.
He said that the partnership entered with Ethiopian Airlines will help the state meet the manpower needs for the new regional aviation hub.
“We are looking forward to partnering with Ethiopian Airlines on many fronts. First for Ethiopian Airlines to fly permanently from Port Harcourt.
“The State Government is also interested in training Rivers indigenes in the Ethiopian Aviation Academy as we work towards making Rivers State a regional aviation hub”, he said.
Governor Wike also detailed his Executive Assistant (Research  and Documentation), Dr Jacob Beredugo and Professor Kaisirm Nwuke, a Rivers professional working with an international agency in Ethiopia to liaise with the management of Ethiopian Airlines to actualize the goals of the Rivers Government/Ethiopian Airlines partnership.
The Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy (EAA) is an IATA Regional Training Partner, ICAO designated Regional Training Center of Excellence, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approved Maintenance Training Organisation, Authorized Training Center (ATC) and Accredited Training School (ATS) by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Approved Training Organization (ATO) by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority.