The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has conducted 26,000 training courses on different air force specialties, both internally and abroad for personnel towards ensuring the effective and efficient employment of air power in response to national security imperatives, in the past five years.
The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar disclosed this at a two-day Commanders’ retreat 2020 at the NAF Officers Mess and Suites, Abuja, with the theme: “Enhancing Efficiency and Effectiveness of NAF Unit Commanders in Contemporary Security Environment.”
The air chief said the retreat was organised to “enhance the capacity of Commanders and potential Commanders in the NAF; noting that the vision of his administration is hinged on human capacity development.
While stating the mandate of the NAF to protect the sovereignty and sanctity of Nigeria as well as the lives and properties of the citizens and inhabitants, he reminded the commanders of their responsibilities to the Nation as a fighting force.
Air Marshall Abubakar said the objectives of NAF could only be achieved through a “sound mind, renewed orientation and re-evaluation of one’s actions and inactions as a leader.”
“It is also pertinent to remind ourselves of the contemporary asymmetric nature of warfare, which has defied the conventional battle,” he said.
” We must recognise that this war cannot be fought in isolation of the civil populace, hence the need to integrate and win the hearts and minds of the civilian populace towards gaining intelligence to further our missions and operations.”
The air chief charged the Commanders on the need for prudent management of resources. “In the midst of economic challenges, Commanders must utilized resources at the disposal prudently towards the attainment of set objectives,” he said.
He also charged the Commanders to keep abreast of the financial regulations as regards the use of public funds, as the president administration as zero tolerance to mismanagement of funds.
He assured them that the NAF Headquarters would continue to work assiduously to ensure that the mandate assigned to the Service is achieved.
“As such Commanders should remain assured of our support towards the successful conduct of missions and operations. I therefore implore you all to maximize the opportunity afforded by this Retreat to learn from the experiences of our retired colleagues, rub minds and clear grey areas”, he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Chief of Policy and Plans (COPP), Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Isiaka Amao, noted that the 2020 Commanders’ Retreat would consolidate on the gains recorded during previous editions, which, he said, reflected positively on the output of participants.
He noted that, while the NAF was aware that the Commanders had acquired some knowledge and equipped themselves with various tools for the discharge of command duties either from staff courses, war colleges, defence colleges or through personal efforts, they would undoubtedly benefit from the experiences of others to function optimally.
“Moreover, the fluid nature of the contemporary security situation requires Commanders to be flexible in the discharge of command responsibilities of which shared ideas and experiences could greatly help, in the light of command challenges”, he said.
