The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, on Monday commissioned 21-year-old renovated structures of Nigerian Air Force School of Air Intelligence (NAFSAINT) in Makurdi, Benue State.
Abubakar also commissioned several buildings newly completed for NAF officers at the Tactical Air Command base in Makurdi just as repairs of nine grounded F7-NI fighter aircrafts has commenced as part of efforts to continue to protect the territorial integrity of the country.
The CAS said the development clearly indicated the seriousness with which the system is working to ensure the NAF gets back some of the grounded aircrafts into flying status again.
He also said during the commissioning of the renovated structures at the school premises in Makurdi that since his assumption of office, it had been a policy drive to provide befitting and conducive learning environment to Nigerian Air Force (NAF) personnel.
“Accordingly, the Nigerian Air Force has since 2015 prioritized the provision of good living accommodation to personnel as well as befitting hostels and state of the art training facilities for our schools. Evidently, these actions have greatly enhanced the output of our operations and given us several technological breakthroughs.
“At the early stage of this administration, we realized that our efforts ‘to reposition the NAF into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiatives for effective, efficient and timely employment of air power in response to Nigeria’s national security imperatives’ can best be achieved if we focus on the welfare of personnel alongside capacity building to enhance operational efficiency,” he said.
The Air Force boss added that as part of his efforts in intelligence gathering for air operations, the Nigerian Air Force is in the process of acquiring three variants of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles, and three Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles.
Abubakar noted that the new facilities would accommodate NAF technicians when the expected aircraft arrives from Malaysia and China as he stressed that all hands are on deck to ensure the country remains secured so citizens can go about their businesses freely.
While he clarified during inspection of items under repair that, “in Makurdi, the work is ongoing on nine F7-NI fighter aircrafts. Seven are going to be crated and taken out of Makurdi to China for maintenance and two would be done locally here. Already, work on the two have began as you can see here.”
Earlier, the Commandant of NAFSAINT, Air Commodore Ernest Owei, intimated that the 22-year-old renovated and well furnished school had witnessed tremendous transformation under the Abubakar’s administration.
Owei informed that the school continues over the years to renew its curriculum in tandem with modern challenges even as he stressed that the renovated structures would provide a more comfortable learning environment for capacity building.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
