… Nigerian Airforce Has Highly Competent Pilots
Concerned
about global politics surrounding procurement of sophisticated arms
from western countries, Nigerian Airforce (NAF) is expecting arrival of
war-planes and helicopters from Pakistan and Russia to boost its fleets.
The
Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar made the disclosure at
a breakfast briefing with Editors of Online Media in Abuja at the
weekend.
Air
Marshal Abubakar said : “I want to say that we have been enjoying
support from other countries. (Sometimes arm procurement) is shrouded in
a lot of politics. Unfortunately, I’m not a politician, so I cannot be
able to say much on that. But what I can tell you is that right now as I
speak to you, we are expecting the Pakistani Chief of Air Staff in
Nigeria soon. Pakistan has accepted to sell ten trainer airplanes. And
that is why the Pakistan Chief of Air Staff is coming for the induction
ceremony which is going to take place in Kaduna.
“We
are really getting support from many countries. Similarly, we have
trained so many people in Pakistan, China. In the US, we have pilots
that are training right now. We have other pilots that have just
finished training from the United Kingdom. We have additional pilots
that are training in South Africa. We have more pilots that are training
in the Egyptian Air Force and so many other places including Russia…We
are really getting support”, he said.
On
the competence of Nigerian fighter pilots, Abubakar said “In the last
18 months, we have flown almost 3000 hours with no incident. In terms of
competence I can tell you that the Nigerian Air Force pilots are
amongst the most competent. Because the training curriculum is very
clear. And that is why now in the Air Force you look at the wings,
pilots wear wings. We have categorized the wings according to their
skill levels. We also organize simulation training for our pilots, we
organize evaluation visits where pilots are evaluated without any
notice. We have also sent over 700 personnel of the NAF to different
parts of the world to train and acquire the skills required for them to
be effective.
The
Chief of Air Staff said the air force is currently assisting the
Nigerian Army and Navy in the North and South in countering criminal
activities of terrorists and militants through operational strategy, air
interdictions strategy and soft-core strategy. He explained that the
main objective of is to create an enabling environment for the ground
and surface forces, to be able to operate with little or no hindrance.
He
continued: “Another substrategy under this is the reactivation of
airplanes. We have embarked on the reactivation of airplanes and today
as I speak to you we are on the thirteenth aircraft. What I mean by
reactivation is that aircrafts that were not in involved in any fight
before the coming of the present federal government; they were parked
before but are today part of the fight.
“The
thirteenth aircraft as I speak to you is being worked upon in Yola and
we are hoping that before the end of this month that airplane will be
flying. When you train, you must reactivate the platform to be used in
flying.”
The Air force boss also denied a
recent rumour of helicopter crash in Makurdi. Explaining the incident
involving Agusta AW 101 helicopter handed over to NAF by President
Muhammadu Buhari, he said: “What happened in Makurdi was not a crash.
Immediately we received the aircraft from the Presidency, we took one of
them to Kaduna to paint it into desert camouflage. They removed the
seal of the President and painted it into a combat machine.
“When
they finished the painting, they were supposed to go to Maiduguri but
they needed to go to Makurdi to pick certain things before proceeding to
Maiduguri. So the aircraft took off from Kaduna, landed perfectly in
Makurdi. They were just taxiing to go and park when the incident
happened. I don’t want to pre-empt whatever investigation that is going
on.
“Those same pilots were the ones that
picked the 21 Chibok girls that were moved out in the night and brought
them back to Maiduguri and from Maiduguri to Abuja. So accidents happen
and we are investigating to find out why it happened and we will make it
public when we get the picture of what really happened.”
The
Chief of Air Staff also disclosed that the welfare of air men and other
officers in the Airforce have been improved upon through provisions of
accommodation, agricultural programs, housing schemes and other welfare
packages. He added that people in host communities are also
beneficiaries of its services through the provisions of health
facilities, water boreholes, schools and skill acquisitions centres.
By PRNigeria
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