Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air
Marshal Sadique Abubakar, on Thursday disclosed Nigerian Air Force (NAF)
readiness to establish a Forward Operational Base (FOB) in Taraba State.
He said this is part of plans to
further tackle the incessant herdsmen-farmers clash in the country.
The CAS while delivering a lecture
to participants of National Defence College (NDC) Course 26 in Abuja, also
announced plans to establish a Quick Response Wing along the Benue-Nassarawa
Axis.
Air Marshal Abubakar also spoke
on the current and likely threats as well as contingencies from the perspective
of air operations.
He then elucidated on his vision
for the NAF while also highlighting current efforts at actualizing it.
Some of the initiatives included
establishment of new commands and some units, improvement in human capacity development,
improved aircraft serviceability and logistics support as well as enhanced
personnel welfare.
He also spoke about the efforts
being made in the area of research and development towards improved
self-sufficiency, as a result of which the NAF is currently making great
savings in foreign exchange.
He further discussed the current
NAF Force structure, doctrine, current capabilities and equipment holding in
response to threats alongside the NAF’s strategic plan before looking at NAF
future perspectives.
The CAS equally examined the
challenges and constraints to the NAF’s air power effectiveness before
concluding the lecture by discussing the strategies to countering the
challenges enumerated.
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS),
Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, on Thursday disclosed Nigerian Air Force (NAF)
readiness to establish a Forward Operational Base (FOB) in Taraba State.
It said as part of plans to
further tackle the incessant herdsmen-farmers clashes in the country.
The CAS, who disclosed the plans
while delivering a lecture to participants of National Defence College (NDC)
Course 26 in Abuja, also announced plans to establish a Quick Response Wing
along the Benue-Nassarawa Axis.
The title of the lecture, which
lasted one hour, was ‘The Nigerian Air Force – Challenges and Future
Perspectives’. Participants of the Course are drawn from senior officers of the
Armed Forces of Nigeria and those of sister African countries, senior officials
of other security agencies in Nigeria as well as those of Federal Government
Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
The lecture afforded the CAS to
share thoughts with the participants on how the National Defence Policy
prescribes that the NAF should be employed, out of which the mission statement
of the NAF was coined. Air Marshal Abubakar also spoke on the current and
likely threats as well as contingencies from the perspective of air operations.
He then elucidated on his vision for the NAF while also highlighting current
efforts at actualizing it.
Some of the initiatives included
but are not limited to the establishment of new commands and some units,
improvement in human capacity development, improved aircraft serviceability and
logistics support as well as enhanced personnel welfare. He also spoke about
the efforts being made in the area of research and development towards improved
self-sufficiency, as a result of which the NAF is currently making great
savings in foreign exchange.
Thereafter, he discussed the
current NAF Force structure, doctrine, current capabilities and equipment
holding in response to threats alongside the NAF’s strategic plan before
looking at NAF future perspectives.
The CAS equally examined the
challenges and constraints to the NAF’s air power effectiveness before
concluding the lecture by discussing the strategies to countering the
challenges enumerated. The lecture was followed by a stimulating interactive
session.
In his closing remarks, the
Commandant of NDC, Rear Admiral Adeniyi Osinowo, declared that “You cannot win
any war today without an effective and virile Air Force”. He then added that
there was no doubt that the current NAF leadership is taking a lot of laudable
and unprecedented steps, especially in the area of technological development,
in a bid to reposition the NAF for greatness. He particularly cited the recent
feats by the NAF in locally designing and producing an operational Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle, among many other breakthroughs in the area of research and development.
He then seized the opportunity to congratulate the CAS on the recent passage of
the bill establishing the Air Force Institute of Technology Kaduna, which he
believed would further enhance technological growth in the NAF.
It is recalled that the NAF had
also earlier announced plans to establish FOBs in Akwa Ibom and Cross River
States, as part of its commitment to combatting emerging security challenges in
those parts of the country.
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