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NAF to establish operational units in Taraba, others

By Segun Olaniyi, Abuja
09 February 2018   |   4:22 am
As part of plans to tackle the incessant herdsmen-farmers clash in the country, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has disclosed plans by the Nigerian Air Force...

Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar

As part of plans to tackle the incessant herdsmen-farmers clash in the country, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has disclosed plans by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to establish an operational base in Taraba State.

Abubakar, who made the disclosure 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-Nasarawa axis.

Participants in the course were 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.

Abubakar also spoke on the current and likely threats as well as contingencies from the perspective of air operations. He elucidated on his vision for the NAF and highlighted current efforts at actualizing it.

A statement signed by NAF’s spokesman, Air Vice Marshal Olatokunbo Adesanya, in Abuja yesterday said the initiatives included but 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.

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 said there was no doubt that the current NAF leadership was taking a lot of laudable and unprecedented steps, especially in the area of technological development, in a bid to reposition the force for greatness.

He cited the recent feats by the NAF in local designing and production of an operational unmanned aerial vehicle, among many other breakthroughs in the area of research and development.

Osinowo congratulated the CAS on the recent passage of the bill establishing the Air Force Institute of Technology in Kaduna, which he believed would enhance technological growth in the force.

NAF had earlier announced plans to establish FOBs in Akwa Ibom and Cross River states to combat emerging security challenges in those parts of the country.

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