The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar, has decorated four senior non-commission personnel recently elevated to the officer cadre of the Nigerian Air Force.
In an unprecedented decision, the four senior Air Warrant Officers, each with a minimum of 32 years growing through the rank and file cadre were given concessional promotions into the officer cadre of the Air Force.
In a ceremony at the Air Force Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, Abubakar decorated them with their new ranks of Flight Officers, skipping the first two ranks in the officer cadre; pilot officer and flying officer.
Those decorated Flight Lieutenant include Air Warrant Officers Julde Muhammed, Mohammed Madugu, Theophilus Enem and Master Warrant Officer Samuel Ogunnubi.
The CAS also decorated 14 newly promoted Air Vice Marshalls and 36 newly promoted Air Commodores during the same ceremony.
The CAS said, “I am also particularly thrilled to be part of another history being recorded here today, in the commissioning of 4 dedicated, hard working and astute AWOs to the rank of Flt Lt.
“These AWOs have put in nothing less than 33years of outstanding meritorious service to the nation and have been found to possess exemplary leadership qualities.
“Their commissioning today, apart from serving as a reward for hard work is also to serve as motivation to the airmen/airwomen to aspire for such elevation.”
He also noted that in an increasingly complex security environment where new challenges call for the very best, promotion can no longer be business as usual.
He said while time on rank would, understandably, continue to be central, factors such as merit, productivity, establishment vacancy, deplorability and, to some extent, geographical spread have combined to raise the bar and make the race even more competitive.
