Nigeria’s growing drone ecosystem is opening new opportunities across oil and gas, agriculture, mapping, and security operations, and Flybird RPAS Limited says it is positioning itself at the centre of that expansion.
Flybird RPAS Limited, is the unmanned aviation division of Flybird Aircraft Management Services Limited, a premium aviation business group.
Speaking at the 2026 Dronetecx exhibition held at the NiGav Centre in Lagos, General Manager of Operations, Dr. Abdullahi Garba, said Flybird is deepening its role in drone-as-a-service operations while also exploring AI-enhanced systems to improve surveillance and operational efficiency.
According to him, the company’s participation at Dronetecx reflects the increasing maturity of Nigeria’s drone ecosystem and the need for stronger industry collaboration.
Although this was Flybird’s first appearance as an exhibitor at Dronetecx, Garba noted that the company has maintained active participation across several aviation industry engagements in Nigeria.
“Yes, this is our first time exhibiting here, but we have been participating in most of all the other Nigerian aviation industry conferences, seminars, and also industry engagements,” he said.
“In fact, we were the official partner of the Nigerian Air Show in Abuja.”
Garba explained that while Flybird has been known largely for aircraft management operations, the company has now expanded significantly into drone services and remote aerial operations.
“Well, at the moment, with Flybird RPAS Limited, we are more specialised into drone-as-services provision,” he stated.
“We have the NCAA ROC, which is the Certificate to Operate Drones. We also have the National Security Adviser’s clearance, which is for operating drones within the country, importing and also possibly exporting them.”
The Flybird executive said regulatory approvals remain essential to ensuring safe and compliant drone operations within Nigeria’s airspace, especially as more operators enter the sector.
Flybird expands surveillance, agriculture and AI drone operations
He added that Flybird currently provides drone services to several industries, particularly the oil and gas sector where aerial inspections and infrastructure surveillance have become increasingly important.
“So we provide services for the drones. Mostly we are working within the oil and gas industry, where we do surveillance, facility inspections,” Garba explained.
“We also do monitoring and evaluations of infrastructures of oil and gases.”
Beyond energy infrastructure, Flybird is also expanding its agricultural drone operations, especially in precision farming applications designed to improve crop treatment and efficiency.
“We are also into agricultural positions, where we do agricultural precision spraying, spraying and also insecticides and all other sectors that we work within agriculture,” he said.
Industry analysts say precision agriculture remains one of the fastest-growing areas for drone deployment globally, with operators increasingly using UAVs for crop monitoring, pesticide application, irrigation assessments, and farm mapping.
Garba further disclosed that Flybird’s operations also extend into ISR missions, including intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance services.
“So also we do ISR, which is intelligence, security, and reconnaissance mostly,” he said.
“That’s why we do most of the aerial intelligence in that.”
According to him, Flybird is additionally involved in surveying and mapping operations that support land administration and urban planning activities across parts of the country.
“Besides that, we are also engaged into surveying and mapping within the country, mostly dealing with lands, urban planning, and all those things,” he noted.
“These are the few things that we are doing at the moment.”
One of the company’s next strategic directions, Garba revealed, is the integration of artificial intelligence into drone operations to improve data interpretation and autonomous recognition capabilities.
“But besides that, we are also venturing into AI-enhanced systems where we’ll have recognition patterns, blind spots, and also doing all other things,” he said.
“So by God’s grace, we are doing much truly at the moment.”
The Flybird executive described Nigeria’s drone ecosystem as emerging steadily despite regulatory and operational challenges, stressing that collaboration between operators and regulators remains critical for sustainable growth.
“Well, it’s coming up. The drone services industry and the ecosystem is coming up,” Garba said.
“The reason we are meeting here is one of the purposes that we gather all together here so that at least we can know each other, know where the policies are, government policies, the rules and the regulations.”
According to him, compliance with operational standards will remain essential as the sector continues to evolve.
“So that we should all abide by it so that at least we can deliver safety and safe services and also the needs of the building,” he added.
“We need to come and actually do better.”
The growing participation of companies like Flybird at Dronetecx also highlights how Nigeria’s drone industry is gradually transitioning from awareness campaigns into practical commercial deployment across multiple sectors including security, agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, and geospatial services.
