Abuja – The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar , has tasked officers to generate new ideas and provide innovative solutions that would give competitive advantage to Nigeria over its adversaries.

Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar

Abubakar made the call in a statement by the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, in Abuja on Friday.

Daramola said the CAS gave the charge on Friday, during the graduation ceremony of the third set of participants of the Nigerian Air Force War College (NAFAWC) Makurdi.

He said the 19 graduating participants, who are of the rank of Wing Commander and its equivalent in the other Services, had undergone 6 months of intensive training in the application of Air Power in both joint and independent operations.

He said that they comprised 16 senior officers from the NAF, one from the Nigerian Army (NA) and 2 from the Nigerian Navy (NN).

Abubakar congratulated the graduating participants for surmounting yet another hurdle in the quest for excellence.

He urged the graduating participants to bring to bear the skills and lessons acquired during the course in their future deployments.

The air chief stressed that they needed to exploit clear and critical thinking to produce vigorous, thoughtful and innovative approaches, thereby adding value in the way things are done.

He noted that the current NAF leadership placed high premium on capacity building initiatives aimed at developing competencies and skills of personnel of all specialties in order to add value to efforts at ensuring the security of lives and properties of Nigerians.

The CAS further said that the quality of personnel would, to a large extent, determine the effectiveness of the Service in meeting critical considerations for Nigeria’s defence and national security imperatives.

He said that the complex battle space in counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations, requires precision in targeting as well as effective coordination with surface forces while understanding the limitations of Air Power.

CAS said that he was happy that the College had adequately equipped the participants with the knowledge to navigate this complex landscape.

He said that the Service, on its part, would continue to support the activities of the College, within the limits of available resources, to provide realistic and result-oriented training.

He said that the College was established to bridge the gap in the quality of workforce that transit from the tactical to the operational and strategic levels in the NAF.

“I am happy to note that the pioneer graduates of this College who recently graduated from the National Defence College (NDC) performed excellently on the course.

” I am, therefore, optimistic that in the near future, the Service will begin to feel the impact of establishing this College through better application of strategic planning and implementation of doctrines to move the NAF to greater heights,” he said

Abubakar appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari, whose support and exemplary leadership in the face of contending economic priorities made the establishment of the College realisable.

AVM James Baba, the outgoing Commandant of the College, in his speech, thanked the CAS for his initiative and tenacity that led to the establishment of the College on 5 Sept. 2016.

The Air War Course 3/2018 was inaugurated on Feb. 15 to equip participants with general knowledge on warfare with emphasis on Air Power.

The NAFAWC, which is the highest military training institution in the NAF, also seeks to equip officers with in-depth understanding of how to translate national strategic objectives into operational directives.

According to the statement, participants were taught Air Power Principles and Concepts, Warfare Studies, Fundamentals of Strategy, Warfighting and Wargaming as well as Land and Maritime Warfare Studies, during the Course.(NAN)