The story of Muhammed Abubakar is a testimony of hard work and determination. After 24 years of doing odd jobs at an airport, this man managed to work through hardship and sacrifice to achieve his dream of becoming a pilot.
Abubakar started working at the airport as an airplane cleaner after he failed to secure admission at a local polytechnic. After failing to continue with his education, he decide to look for a casual job that could enable him to earn a living. It was through the job hunt that he secured employment at Kabo Air as an aircraft cleaner.
The job as a cleaner was not paying well as he was only earning about $0.5 daily. Through his persistence and hard work, Abubakar later moved to become a ground staff at the airline in Maiduguri, Nigeria. At Maiduguri, he worked in almost all positions for the airline. It is through his hardworking while working for the company that he gained knowledge and experience in the aviation sector.
After working in the various departments for the airline, Abubakar applied for a crew member position at Kabo Air, a position be got.
As a crew member, he was being paid around $40. From being a crew member he later moved to Aero Contractors as a flight attendant.
As a flight attendant, his work was noticed by the airline’s Deputy Managing Director who opted to multiply his salary ten times. According to reports, the new salary scale was so huge for Abubakar that he couldn’t believe that it was his and opted to return the money.
It is this salary that he partly saved with the hope that one day it might be enough to pay for his fees to attain his dream of being a pilot.
He one day opted to share his dream of being a pilot with the managing director who also pleaded with his dream and plan on how he could achieve it. The director thereafter decided to support him and later on, he was able to pay for his private pilot license in Canada.
After finishing his training in Canada, Abubakar returned to Nigeria to now start pursuing his career as a pilot. But this time around he was not allowed to fly any plane in Nigeria since he didn’t have a commercial pilot license. At this point, he was stuck between the rock and a hard place as he could not fly a plane and could not get the license since he did not have money.
With determination to achieve his dream, he decided to approach the deputy managing director at the airline to help him raise the money. Since he had been loyal to the company for years, the company decided to pay for his training to get the required license.
After 24 years of resistance and hard work, Abubakar achieved his dream and he is now a captain at Azman Air.
