The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has said that due to unique demand of the members of the Nigerian military in the discharge of their professional responsibilities, it is imperative that the Services are led by persons with good leadership qualities if they must eliminate or minimise costly mistakes during operations.
Speaking while delivering his remarks after the decoration of newly promoted 13 Air Vice Marshals and 35 Air Commodores at the Headquarters of Nigerian Air Force on Thursday, the Air Chief said the requirement was even higher in the case of the Air Force which he said is a highly technical service.
He said the Air Council had found these qualities in the officers, hence their promotion and subsequent decoration.
Air Marshal Abubakar said the officers had earned their new ranks by dint by dint of hard work amongst several other criteria, such as “merit, productivity, establishment vacancy, slots for deployment and, to some extent, geographical spread have combined to raise the bar and make the race even more competitive.”
The CAS therfore charged the newly decorated officers to “brace up for the challenges ahead especially in our collective resolve to regenerate the Nigerian Air Force.”
“Promotion though a reward for hard work, is however considered a privilege and a call for higher responsibilities… I urge you to be prepared to apply your skills, experience, commitment and time when and wherever it is demanded of you as we continue to build a new Nigerian Air Force,” the CAS said.
He said that due to increasing complex security environment, the present NAF leadership had placed emphasise on human capacity development in order to reposition the Service into a highly professional and disciplined force .
” The focus on human capacity development has also led to the achievement of great strides in Research and Development. The production of the diaphragm for the Mi-35P helicopter and L39ZA aircraft is an achievement the service is proud of,” he said.
” It is noteworthy that the aircraft serviceability rate across all NAF platforms has continued to improved. This is occasioned by regular provision of critical spares and intensive training/retraining of aircraft maintenance engineers and technicians.”
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chief of Administration (NAF), Air Vice Marshal Kingsley Lar, the promotion of the officers followed “a painstaking screening process and subsequent approval by the Air Council.”
He said the selection process was painstaking and exhaustive one, which involved applying stringent criteria for elevation especially to the prestigious air rank.
“Several qualities and conditions are used to determine an officer’s eligibility for promotion. Merit is certainly top of the list of considerations,” he said.
” However, it does not mean that the officers that were not promoted are not fit, most especially at the higher ranks The major constraint is that of establishment vacancies.
The NAF can only promote what the Establishment and managing provision can conveniently accommodate.
Lar enjoined the promoted senior officers to be more diligent, articulate and compassionate in their disposition to their duties and other persons, “whether professional colleague or civilian.”
