By Musa Umar Bologi
Abuja
Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has said that unlike in the past young officers from ranks of lieutenants and flying officers now fly the Nigerian Air Force platforms, and the number increasing gradually.
The Air chief disclosed this at the graduation of four new fighter pilots from its 403 Flying Training School (403 FTS) in Kano.
Represented by the Air Officer Commanding, Air Training Command, Air Vice Marshal Christopher Okoye, the CAS said this is a “departure from what obtained in the recent past when senior officers of the rank of Air Vice Marshal and Air Commodore were the ones flying.”
“Today, most of the pilots flying NAF platforms, including the C-130 aircraft, are flight lieutenants and flying officers,” he said.
The graduation of new fighter pilots is in furtherance of the human capacity development efforts of the current NAF leadership, according to NAF’s spokesperson, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya.
He said in a statement that the young pilots commenced training at 403 FTS in Kano in 2016, as part of Jet Training Course 1, after they had successfully completed the Basic Flying Course in the United Kingdom.
“With the successful graduation, the number of fighter pilots available for operations in the NAF has increased thereby giving impetus to the ongoing fight against insurgency in the North East, cattle rustling in the North West and other forms of criminalities,” he said.
He said NAF could more satisfactorily fulfil its statutory roles across the broad spectrum of national air power tasks, following extensive training, platform acquisition and reactivation of grounded aircraft fleet.
He said some of the NAF’s L-39ZA aircraft had been modified into combat aircraft, as part of efforts to enhance the combat readiness of the NAF.
“The rebuilding process continues to further enhance our manpower capacity as well as status of the NAF fleet. This achievement could not have been possible without the continuous support of the Federal Government”, he said.
Adesanya said the new fighter pilots have been charged to be “selfless” as they get set to start discharging their services to the country and the NAF.
“This is a day to feel proud and to congratulate yourselves on your hard work and achievements.” The NAF spokesperson quoted the representative of Chief of Air Staff at the event. “However, it also presents a time when you must begin to prepare yourselves to justify the efforts and resources expended on your training up to this stage.
“Remember to whom much is given much is expected. Therefore, as you assume your next responsibilities in the NAF as operational pilots, there is a demand on you to reflect the quality of training received both at home and abroad.”
Awards were presented to those that distinguished themselves on the Jet Training Course in various categories in the school.
Recently NAF graduated 16 ab-initio student pilots, including 2 female cadets from 401 Flying Training School, Kaduna.
