The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) has lauded one of the pioneer pilots in the Nigerian aviation industry, Capt. Rufus Orimoloye, who died at the age of 89.

In a condolence message by the President’s spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Sunday in Abuja, Buhari saluted the many decades of commitment to the aviation sector by the departed.

Late Orimoloye trained as a pilot between 1954 and 1956 in the United Kingdom, and then returned home to ply his trade, first with West African Airways, and later Nigerian Airways for 26 years.

The president recalled that Orimoloye flew with the Presidential Fleet, and was also Chief Flight Instructor and Director at Zaria Flight School between 1986 and 1988.

He maintained that the contributions of the departed would remain evergreen in the annals of the aviation industry in the country.

According to him, this is a fact already attested to as Orimoloye was bestowed with the MFR National Honour in 2009, and also the 50th Anniversary Award of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The president prays that the Odofin Ayedun of Akure will rest well while seeking God’s comfort for all those who mourned him.

NAN