President Mohammed Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade deserves
our commendation and support especially with the prosecution of some perceived
high and mighty in our society. The victims cut across all boundaries from the
civil service, politicians and of recent senior military officers both serving
and retired. Unfortunate, it is the crude and unethical style of the Economic
and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) officials who prefer to embark on a trial
by the media that may end up becoming its Achilles Heel.
This trial by the press that has become the norm for the
EFCC is not only unconstitutional and unethical, but is fast losing its appeal
and credibility among well-meaning Nigerians who have become disenfranchised
and disenchanted with such below-the- belt approach and tactics.
In particular, the trial of Air Marshal Alex Badeh which the
EFCC had initially thought has been fought and won on the pages of newspapers
and tabloids, is turning out to be the opposite as his legal team have so far
been able to punch holes into virtually all the accusations levelled against
the much decorated senior officer.
It is now just a matter of time before we all realise that
not only was Badeh not involved in any $2.1 billion arms purchase, he made the best
use of scarce resources available for the smooth operations of the Nigerian Air
Force.
As the EFCC commence the trial of yet another high flier
from the stables of the Nigerian Air Force, it becomes pertinent to educate and
inform Nigerians on the type of mantle these Nigerian Air Force Officers are
made of.
For instance, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar was appointed
the 17th Chief of Air Staff on 8 September 2010 and stepped down on 4 November
2012 after a distinguished career spanning over 37 years.
Till date, he has been adjudged to be the best Chief of Air
Staff the NAF has ever had, based on his monumental achievements that remain
visible. As the EFCC open yet another chapter in its campaign of calumny via
the media against this distinguished Nigerian, it becomes pertinent to use this
medium to showcase some of Umar’s laudable achievements.
On assumption of office, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar
left no one in doubt that he was a man on a mission. With immediate effect, he
visualised his NAF of the future as one that would be positioned for sustained
employment of airpower to meet joint national defence imperatives as well as
provide swift response capabilities for emergencies and internal security
challenges.
To actualise this vision while ensuring continuity in policy
in the face of daunting challenges, he identified 5 key drivers which include
mission-oriented force development, focused logistics support, qualitative
training, personnel motivation and increased inter-service cooperation. To put
into practical terms the actualisation of the vision, Umar took a number of
bold initiatives and innovations.
Some of these initiatives include the constitution of a
Quick Deployment Force, a composite and self-supporting force possessing
capabilities across the full spectrum of potential air operations aimed at
drastically reducing NAF’s reaction time in national emergencies as well as
NAF’s ability to project credible and balanced force in support of Nigeria’s
national objectives.
Today, members of this elite force have constituted a major
force to be reckoned with in the current fight against insurgency. Air Marshal
Umar also took a decision to reprioritize NAF needs so as to address the
essence of the NAF. By so doing, efforts were concentrated on the high-value
priority areas like platform acquisition and reactivation.
His administration also adopted a new orientation in NAF
budgeting preparation so as to ensure that the entire capital
vote/appropriation paid more attention to NAF’s aircraft reactivation and
acquisition obligations. The immediate benefit of this reprioritization was the
renewed confidence shown by customers and vendors alike and consequent
delivering of new platforms and resumption of rehabilitation of NAF aircraft
fleets.
In the area of self-reliance, the Umar administration
initiated measures to curtail waste and ensure the attainment of reasonable
level of self-reliance. One of such is the insistence that major aircraft
overhaul/maintenance must be carried-out in-country. The strategy adopted
towards achieving this was not to procure any weapon platform or waste fund to
retain any aircraft type for which in-country maintenance capability cannot be
acquired within a reasonable time frame.
The reason for this initiative is
simple. For long, the NAF have depended
on foreign specialists who turned out to be third party agents and profiteering
middlemen to maintain some of our fleets. Worse still, the contract terms were
unfavourable, at prohibitive costs and precluded NAF engineers and technicians
from participating in the repairs. This situation promoted perpetual dependence
and denial of the achievement of self-reliance in aviation/aerospace
technology.
Still in line with the quest for self-reliance, the NAF
under Umar accelerated the transformation programme of the Air Force Institute
of Technology (AFIT) through affiliation with Cranfield University, United
Kingdom. AFIT was established to
generate, disseminate and apply knowledge through the utilization of innovative
research findings and products for the enhancement of the capabilities of the
NAF and other stakeholders in the aerospace/aeronautical industry. With
emphasis on Research and Development, AFIT presented a dual advantage of
enhancing military capability as well as national power.
Umar also embarked on aggressive foreign air and ground crew
training to eradicate the hitherto gross aircrew manpower deficiency and for
the amelioration of aircrew generation gap which the NAF has grappled with for
years. In line with this, was the domiciling of helicopter pilot training in
Enugu through a public-private partnership through an agreement between the NAF
and an indigenous company that contributed assets in term of manpower,
platform, equipment and fund.
The public-private partnership concept was adopted
as a consequence of lack of resources for uninterrupted training. Beyond
training of NAF helicopter pilots, the initiative was a huge income earner for
the NAF and the Federal Government. Other initiatives of the Umar led
administration included the introduction of centralized e-payment system for
aviation fuel aimed at ending the cumbersome bureaucratic bottleneck associated
with regular supply of petroleum, oils and lubricants and elimination of
impediments to air operation.
A review of the NAF Establishment and Force Structure was
also carried out by Umar to reposition the NAF to better fulfil its mandate
taking into consideration the emerging threats and the induction of new and
reactivated platforms into the Service. The reestablishment of the former
Military Airlift Command (MAC) to Mobility Command in Yenagoa followed the
induction of new aircraft and increase serviceability of old platforms coupled
with the unwieldy span of control of Tactical Air Command, Makurdi (TAC). This
was in keeping with the underlying NAF principle of matching organizational
structure with available assets and assigned task.
Air Marshal Umar explained the establishment and location of
the HQ MC in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State during the commissioning of the Single
Officers’ Quarters erected for the officers of 207 Special Mobility Group as
follows, “In my calculation, for the overall national security and defence, I
decided that the Nigerian Air Force needed to pay more attention to the Niger
Delta region. The reason is simple, the Niger Delta Region is the goose that
lays the golden egg and is deserving of a more pronounced presence of NAF.
The nature of the Special Mobility Group is such that it
will be capable of carrying out special complex missions like troop insertion
and extraction from difficult terrain, medium helicopter transport, search and
rescue operations, medical evacuation, land and maritime surveillance.” To
compliment the efforts of the new Command, Air Marshal Umar went ahead to
establish some other units such as the Executive Airlift Group 209 (209 EAG)
Minna.
Originally based at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA)
Abuja, as the 481 Ministerial Squadron, the 209 EAG is tasked with
providing light transport and liaison flights for leadership of Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and other top government functionaries as part
of NAF statutory responsibilities. It was originally planned to be based at the
Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) Abuja, like the 481 Ministerial
Squadron, but due to air traffic congestion at NAIA and insufficient space for
its assets, it became increasingly difficult to operate the Group at NAIA as
envisioned.
The 235 Base Services Group (235 BSG) was also established
to replace the erstwhile NAF Forward Operations Base (FOB), Yenagoa and charged
with statutory responsibility to provide welfare, security, administrative and
regimental services to HQ MC and all NAF units around Yenagoa. Umar also went
ahead to establish the 61 NAF Detachment in Warri with the sole aim of
providing logistics and administrative support to all Nigerian Air Force
operations in the South-South region of the country.
Other innovations under the Air Marshal Umar-led
administration include the introduction of new NAF rank badges and camouflage.
In July 2011 the Air Council approved the use of a new rank structure to be
worn by officers of the Nigerian Air Force. The new rank, which is now worn on
the working dress, replaced the old one
worn by officers. It was the second restructuring of rank badges in the
Nigerian Air Force since the establishment of the Service in 1964.
Umar also
upgraded of NAF Detachment Maiduguri to 79 Composite Group to facilitate
strategic dispersal of NAF counter air assets while meeting joint defence
imperative in the North Eastern axis of the country. The establishment became
necessary as a result of the increasing responsibilities and tasks of the unit
following the additional helicopters and personnel deployed to Maiduguri in
support of the joint efforts by the military to stem the tide of killings,
rising insecurity, heightened rate of armed banditry and arms smuggling in the
North Eastern axis of the country.
Coupled with its designation as a Disaster Reaction Unit
(DRU) to assist NEMA in disaster management operations, the 79 Composite Group
infrastructure, equipment and personnel were inadequate to meet the obligations
of its new status. The Umar led administration also saw the need for the NAF to
have an intellectual environment to drive efficient delivery of airpower in
furtherance of Nigeria’s geostrategic aspirations in the face of emerging
challenges in modern air combat and the new dimensions assumed by national
security in recent years necessitated the establishment of the Air Warfare
Centre located within the 99 Air Weapons School, Kainji.
Additionally, Umar took a cursory review of emerging
geostrategic environment which made it imperative for the NAF to establish
presence in key parts of the country to enable her fulfil her constitutional
role promptly. Accordingly, NAF Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Sokoto was
reactivated to enhance effectiveness of NAF operations in North Western Sector
of the Country while facilitating NAF’s capacity to deter and promptly engage
external aggression from that axis.
Under Umar, pilot enlistment through the Direct Short Service Course
(DSSC) scheme was initiated due to dearth of pilots in the NAF.
This initiative did boost the number of pilots in the NAF
and also saw to the graduation of the first female pilot in the NAF. Umar was
also an advocate of pilot training in the NAF. In 2007, 10 NAF student pilots
left the country in 2007 to Belarus for training as fighter pilots. But after a
period of over 2 years, the officers fell short of NAF expectations. They were
sent to 303 Flying Training School in February 2010 and subsequently grouped
into 2 batches for ease of instruction.
This bold step returned huge dividends as student of the
first batch of 4 graduated in December 2010 while the second batch of 10
graduated at the end of 2011. Five pilots also underwent re-currency and
conversion training on the Do-228 aircraft, while 11 pilots successfully
completed advance helicopter training at 97 Special Operations Group, Port
Harcourt. In a bid to revive flying activities at 99 Air Combat Training Group,
seven pilots were sent to the United States of America for instructor pilot
re-currency and conversion training. At 81 Air Maritime Group, seven pilots
also completed training on the ATR 42 aircraft while 12 Aviation Mission Specialists
were also been trained.
A significant step towards the transformation of the NAF by
the Umar-led administration was the establishment of the Directorate of NAF
Transformation (DNT) under the Policy and Plans Branch in line with other
Services and in the spirit of togetherness as advocated by the Armed Forces of
Nigeria transformation. Umar also scored high on welfare of personnel. After
due observations on the exclusion of some personnel from the Air Crew Support
allowances and its adverse effect on the morale, Umar saw the need to address
the issue became imperative. Consequently, a Ration Allowance was approved for
personnel in this category.
Umar also established an Air Force Comprehensive Secondary
School (AFCS), located in Kwa, on the outskirt of Kano, to cater for the
educational needs of personnel’s children in particular and civilians in Kano
community. He also Upgraded the 303 Flying Training School Medical Centre to
349 Nigerian Air Force Hospital, Kano to cater for the medical needs of the
student pilots and instructors as well as other staff and dependents of 303
FTS.
With the envisaged increase in flying activities in Kano
shortly, coupled with the establishment of Air Force Comprehensive School Kano,
the population expected to be served by the Centre will further increase, this
initiative became necessary to upgrade the medical centre to a NAF Hospital to
be known as 349 NAF Hospital Kano with full complement of a NAF referral
hospital. Umar achievements in the health sector were well recognised as he
ensured that all NAF medical Centres received the desired attention the
deserved.
Perhaps it was in recognition of this that the Medical
Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria awarded a 5-star status to the medical
laboratory department of the 445 NAF Hospital Ikeja. The Nigerian Air Force
Conference Centre and Suites was also an initiative of Air Marshal Umar who
acquired the land and saw to its construction as the 17th Chief of Air Staff.
*Bankole Sulaimon contributed this from Lagos.
Pix; Air Marshal Umar
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