The Minister of Defence Rtd. Major General Bashir Magashi has assured the Air Marshal Oladayo Amao led Nigerian Air Force of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to sustaining the trajectory of the Air power attack capabilities of the Service.
According to the Minister, this will be a catalyst towards reinforcing its National defence constitutional role. The Minister assured that the President is poised to providing new platforms for its operations.
General Magashi stated this in his inaugural speech as Special guest of honour at the NAF 58th anniversary seminar held at the NAF base Kano, Kano State.
The Minister commended the strategic role of the Nigerian Air Force in the on-going joint forces operations towards keeping the sanctity and integrity of the nation’s sovereignty.
The Defence Minister said that the theme of the seminar, “Enhancing the Nigerian Air Force’s Operational Efficiency in Joint Operations for Effective Response to Contemporary National Security Imperatives” is apt pointing out that it couldn’t have come at a better time.
In his remark, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Oladayo Amao justified the hosting of the NAF Day/Reunion 2022 in Kano as a mark of respect and honour to the Minister of Defence Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd) whose guidance and support to the service he said have impacted greatly on its operations in various ways.
While appreciating the totality of the huge support of the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari to the service, Air Marshal Amao stressed that the service has come a long way in fulfilling its constitutional mandate of defending the National territorial integrity and cohesion in a joint operational environment.
The Chief of Air Staff who disclosed that NAF has evolved new strategy to improve its critical air power capabilities for joint forces employment and deployment said the 58th anniversary celebrations have touched the hearts and minds of many Nigerians domiciled in various contiguous communities bordering NAF Units and Bases across the country through the medical outreaches.
The first paper titled Air – Ground integration and Operational Efficiency: AFN in perspective was delivered by Group Captain AA Komolafe while the 2nd seminar paper delivered by Air Commodore MC Ekwueme was on “Optimizing NAF UAV Operations for Effective Joint Force Employment”.
The climax of the NAF Seminar was the presentation of souvenirs and the unveiling of the book: ‘Nigerian Air Force; So Far’.
Emmanuel Ukoh
