BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI
At the start of the Nigerian Air Force “NAF EXPO 2010” which held at the Air Force Base, Kaduna while Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar was the Air Officer Commanding, Training Command, the expectation of the leadership of the Air Force for the expo was that it should evolve into an international air show in the mould of the Paris and Farnborough air shows in France and the UK.

However, the modest success recorded at the maiden show at the time, could be attributed to the fact that while the Chinese-made F-7 Supersonic fighter jets and the ATR Maritime aircraft had just arrived, the vast majority of the aircraft in the NAF inventory including the Alpha jets, the L29 albatross, the C-130, the G222, and the Super Puma helicopters among others, were no where to be seen as they were operationally epileptic or grounded.

Knowing full well the situation or operational incapacity of most of the aircraft in the NAF inventory, many reputable international aviation firms as well as local-based concerns, rather than seize the opportunity of the Air Show to woo the NAF, stayed off, on the grounds that if the Nigerian Air Force cannot get up to 15% of its fleet back on air; of what use will it be to showcase the latest technology in military aviation?

Consequently, only a handful of foreign and local firms deemed it important to participate in the maiden expo which was capable of signalling the dawn of a new enterprise for the NAF if properly refocused and energized to bring out the best of the officers and airmen of the flying force.

It is against this background that recent wholesale reactivation of fighter, transport, maritime and reconnaissance aircraft by the NAF under Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar, is seen as the catalyst that has begun to ginger interested foreign aircraft aviation companies particularly those specialising in military aircraft for the “AIR EXPO 2012” in Kaduna.