Air Marshal Abubakar NAF
Air Marshal Abubakar NAF Boss
National Security: NAF Assures President Amnesty
Programme of Supports
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has pledged its continued support
to the success of the Presidential Amnesty Programme. This was made
known by the Chief of the Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique
Abubakar, while hosting the Special Adviser to the
President/Coordinator Amnesty Programme, Professor Charles Dokubo,
on a courtesy visit to his Office at the Headquarters NAF (HQ NAF),
Abuja.
In his remarks, the CAS congratulated Professor Dokubo on his
recent appointment and expressed delight with the Programme’s
approach to security through human capacity development.
He noted that this was in tandem with the capacity building
initiatives of the NAF which had, within the past 3 years, resulted
in the expansion of NAF training institutions and establishment of
new ones.
The CAS remarked, for instance, that the Air Force Institute of
Technology (AFIT) in Kaduna, has been upgraded to university
status. He noted that the Amnesty Programme could explore the
opportunities at AFIT for the training of beneficiaries of the
Programme in Aerospace Engineering and other related fields.
Speaking further, Air Marshal Abubakar stated that he was quite
conversant with the peculiarities of the Niger Delta, having served
4 separate tours of duty and spending many years in the area.
He added that the NAF equally had significant presence in the
Niger Delta with units in virtually every state in the region aimed
at ensuring security and overall wellbeing of the people of the
area. The CAS expressed the willingness of the NAF to make
available its facilities and resources to further contribute to the
human capacity development drive of the Amnesty Programme. He
however advised the Coordinator to articulate specific areas of
interest which could be jointly discussed with a view to developing
tailored solutions.
Earlier in his remarks, Professor Dokubo had solicited NAF’s
support towards the attainment of the Programme’s twin objectives,
which are maintenance of peace and security as well as the
development of human capacity in the Niger Delta. He noted,
particularly, that the focus on human capacity development was
based on the realization that the empowerment of the human being
was the most critical requirement for sustainable peace and
security in any society.
Accordingly, he said, the Amnesty Programme, which was
established to ensure security stabilization in the Niger Delta
through the disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and
sustainable re-integration of ex-militants as a precondition for
medium and long term development, had continued to focus on
training with a view to equipping the participants with the
necessary skills to be self-reliant in order to make meaningful
contributions to national development.
Professor Dokubo stated that it was in this regard that the
Programme desired to collaborate with the NAF to explore available
training opportunities within the Service that would compliment its
human capacity development drive. The Coordinator, who noted that
peace building processes after conflicts would not be complete
without creating the necessary opportunities for the youths, also
seized the opportunity to implore the NAF to consider enlisting
qualified candidates from the zone into the NAF.
IBIKUNLE DARAMOLA
Air Commodore
Director of Public Relations and Information
Nigerian Air Force