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Inspection

By Yahaya Isah

Kainji (Niger), Nov. 3, 2020 (NAN) The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has restated the commitment of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF),  to continue to safeguard the territorial integrity of the country.

Abubakar made this known at the ongoing Alpha Jet periodic depot maintenance at the NAF 407 Air Combat Training Group, on Tuesday in Kainji, Niger.

He expressed satisfaction with the ongoing work, adding that what he saw is a clear indication that all hands are on deck to ensure that the service has all the assets it requires to discharge the task assigned to it.

“And another good thing is that we are doing the maintenance in the country, rather than in foreign land, which means we are building the capacity of our personnel.

“They are learning fast, and this is not only taking place in Kainji, the same thing is happening in Lagos.

“We will soon commence another life extension programme on the L-39 in Kano, similarly, I am sure  that you are aware of the C-130 aircraft we have done, in Ikeja, and we are likely to embark on the third C-130 aircraft also in Ikeja,”Abubakar said.

The CAS noted that all these efforts clearly shows that the service is making progress in terms of capacity building and also in terms of developing the capability of its personnel.

He also said that with the ongoing maintenance, the service has succeeded in refurbishing additional fighter aircraft to enable it carry out its core mandate of safeguarding the country.

“As a result of this effort you are seeing here in Kainji, also, in Makurdi, we have the Chinese firm that are working on the  F-7 aircraft, which I believe very soon those aircrafts will be functional as well.

“The whole idea is to mobilize every asset in NAF as well as utilizing them to make sure the country and its citizens are secured and safe,’’ the CAS said.

Abubakar commended the Air Officer Commanding, AVM Musa Muktar, for his efforts in building the capacity of the personnel.

“We cannot at all times depend on others we must be able over time build capacity, and that is exactly what this programme is all about,” he said. (NAN)

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Edited by Razak Owolabi

Winging
By Yahaya Isah

Abuja, Oct. 27, 2020 (NAN) The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Tuesday winged pilot officer, Ibrahim Ibrahim, having successfully completed his one-year flying training course with the Indian Air Force.

The service also reaffirmed its commitment to continue to safeguard the nation’s territorial integrity against any threat.

The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, while winging the officer at the service headquarters in Abuja, said NAF will continue to consolidate on its core mandate of safeguarding the country.

“No doubt at the challenging time, just like the one the country is facing at the moment, training and re-training is relevant and important.

“We believe that the human being is the most important resource we have, and as a nation, we are endowed with a good security population, especially within the service.

“Therefore, for us, training is very crucial for what we are doing. In the last two years, we have made concerted efforts to ensure that our personnel have what is required to enable them discharge assigned tasks,“ Abubakar said.

He disclosed that at the moment, the service has close to 200 personnel in nine different countries, undergoing different types of training, adding value to what they already have.

Abubakar explained that all the efforts are geared toward having a professional personnel, well trained and well equipped to enable them safeguard the country against any threat.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for giving NAF the opportunity to not only acquire platforms, but to have officers in different parts of the world acquiring necessary skills to secure the country.

The CAS also congratulated the graduand, Flying Officer Ibrahim Ibrahim, for successfully completing his course, after one year of rigorous, all encompassing and intensive training.

In his speech, the graduand said the training has actually prepared him to face the task ahead, which is, protecting the country and its territorial integrity. (NAN)

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Edited by Razak Owolabi

Commitment
By Yahaya Isah

Abuja, Oct. 19, 2020 (NAN) The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has reaffirmed its commitment to continue to safeguard the nation’s territorial integrity against any form of threat.

The Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar made the promise when the Senate Committee on NAF paid him an oversight visit at the service headquarters on Monday in Abuja.

Abubakar acknowledged the contributions of the committee to the establishment of Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna State, which is a degree and diploma awarding institution.

“I am also very excited with progress the institution is making at the moment. Just recently, the institution graduated about 500 students in various fields of endeavour,” he said.

Abubakar explained that all the efforts are geared toward having highly professional and disciplined personnel who are able to safeguard the territorial integrity of the country.

He disclosed that the Federal Government has approved the restructuring of the service to enable it discharge its responsibilities of safeguarding the nation.

Abubakar said that since 2015, the service has witnessed tremendous changes by establishing additional commands, such as field commands, and additional branches at its headquarters.

“Today, we have the flag of NAF flying in most of the branches than we had back in 2015. We have established a unit command in Agatu, Benue being one of the areas facing serious security challenges some years back,” he said.

According to Abubakar, apart from Agatu, NAF has also established a unit command in Gembu, Taraba, due to the security challenges some years back between farmers and herders.

He noted that all the efforts were geared toward safeguarding the country as well as bringing security closer to Nigerians.

Abubakar said the service had also establishe unit commands in Plateau, Owerri, and Lafia which were hitherto not in existence before 2015.

The CAS said that the service had been able to establish unit commands virtually in all parts of North-East as against only two.

The Chairman Senate Committee on Air Force, Sen. Bala Na’Allah, representing Kebbi South Senatorial District, said the purpose of the visit was to afford the committee the opportunity to take a stock of the activities of the service.

“We are here to know what you are doing, especially in area of security of the country, your challenges, as well as how to go about addressing them,” Na’Allah said. (NAN)

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Edited by Razak Owolabi

Advice

By Yahaya Isah

Abuja, Oct. 1, 2020 (NAN) A security expert, Dr Kabir Adamu, Managing Director, Beacon Consulting Ltd., has called on the Federal Government to revisit the 2019 revised National Security Strategic Document as a way of out of the current security challenges in the country.

Adamu, who made the call in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, said if revisited, and subsequently implemented, it would certainly address the security challenges currently facing the country.

He noted that in 2019, the present administration revised the National Security Strategy document and promised that there was going to be a paradigm shift where every Nigerian irrespective of their locations would be protected.

“In the document, there was community policing and several others like food security and health security. But up till now, we have not seen the effect.

“I urge the Federal Government to try its best possible to implement it because it is when the document is implemented that the root cause of security challenges in the country can be addressed.

“This is because the document to a large extent, contain issues like, the need to invest in human development, training and re-training of security personnel, overhauling of the security apparatus and their welfare,” Adamu said.

The expert called on security agencies, especially the military, to synergise and work together particularly in area of intelligence gathering if the nation’s quest to tackle insecurity was to succeed.

“We have so many security outfits in the country but that synergy is not really there as the custodians of security of the country.

“With good working relationship, the task of protecting the territorial integrity of the country as well as the internal security threat can easily be nipped in the bud,” Adamu said.

He noted that the root cause of security challenge in the country borders on the issue of governance.

Adamu urged the three tiers of government, especially the Federal Government to review its strategy by addressing the issues of unemployment, high poverty level, illiteracy, among others.

“If all these indices are not properly addressed, they can easily lead to thriving ground for various security challenges in the country.

“Failure to address all these can also lead to huge distrust between the government and the people,” he said.

Adamu advised Nigerians to be patient and persevere as the current administration was doing its best possible to improve on the economic situation for the good of everybody. (NAN)

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Edited by Razak Owolabi