Arotile: Curtains
Arotile: Curtains Drawn On An Inspiring Face of NAF’s
Courageous Women of War
By Yushau A. Shuaib
“Congratulations for emerging a Finalist in the IPRA Golden
World Awards for Excellence in PR 2020 with ‘NAF Women of War’ in
the Category Crisis management.”
That was the message in an email received from Janice Hill, the
Member Services Manager of the International Public Relations
Association (IPRA), notifying the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) of the
its campaign on gender balancing in the Nigerian military. The
campaign had previously won the Public Sector/Government Category
of African PR awards for Superior Achievement in Branding,
Reputation and Engagement (SABRE) initially billed to hold at the
Conference of the African Public Relations Association (APRA) in
Dar es salaam, Tanzania in May this year, but which was postponed
due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic that had claimed much ground
across the world.
The first female combat helicopter pilot in Nigeria, Flying
Officer Tolulope Arotile, who died in an unfortunate freak
auto-accident on July 14 at the age of 24, was one of the prominent
faces of the inspirational PR campaign.
Before her untimely death, Arotile’s outstanding profile and
that of Kafayat Sanni, Nigeria’s first female fighter jet pilot,
form part of NAF’s campaign on Women of War, in an attempt to
eliminate the stereotypical notion that the military is dominated
by men; and that more so women have no place in the combat
operations of the armed forces.
The campaign was an initiative of the forward-looking and
detribalised Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique
Abubakar, in rebranding the service as the most reputable, humane
responsive military service in the African continent. Due to it
uniqueness, the campaign had won several credible laurels,
including African and global awards on reputation and crisis
management in Rwanda and Armenia, only last year.
While the Air Chief is not given to playing to the gallery or
engaging in contrived and incredible propaganda towards political
ends, he takes great delight in projecting the earned reputation of
the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) as a progressive institution, through
the exceptional efforts and gallantry of its personnel.
Through the video and other levels of narrative, the ‘Women of
War’ campaign proved that “what a man can do, a woman can do
better” by depicting how female inclusiveness in the military is
paying off. Apart from Arotile and Kafayat, other top female
officers were interviewed in a documentary, as the campaign was
towards proffering answers to questions pertaining to the roles of
women in the NAF, which have been unfairly underrated and
unnecessarily burdened by distorted cultural expectations.
The campaign portrays how women of war have persistently
showcased fearlessness and courage as pilots, combatants, and
armament specialists, among other no less significant roles. These
have tremendously led to the increased participation of female
personnel in combat and war support functions, especially in the
fight against armed banditry and insurgency in Nigeria. No doubt,
this has portrayed the NAF as a gender-sensitive and balanced
military institution, which projects positive female role models in
the likes of Flying Officer Arotile and others, to the great
admiration of Nigerians.
The campaign has immensely boosted the morale of the female
troops, who are everywhere, valiantly fighting armed banditry and
terrorism in Nigeria’s North-West and North-East geopolitical
zones. It has also further gingered the enlistment of female
citizens into the Nigerian Air Force.
During the unveiling of the newly acquired Augusta 109 Power
Attack Helicopters, it was innocent-looking and brainy Arotile who
introduced the features and operation of the aircraft to President
Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
As such, the unprecedented outpouring of emotions, attendant
upon grief and disbelief, was not surprising, following the death
of the young female officer. When she was laid to rest on July 23,
with full military honours, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar stated
that the NAF was still in palpable shock and intense anguish over
the loss of a mentee in whom the service had so much confidence. He
described the late Arotile as a dedicated and goal-oriented young
woman who carried out her assignments, both on the ground and in
the air, with a high level of professionalism and commitment.
While reiterating how the fallen heroine had contributed
immensely to the decimation of subversive elements in several
anti-banditry combat missions, Air Marshal Abubakar condoled with
the entire womenfolk of Nigeria, whom he said, the late Arotile had
represented so creditably.
Born on December 13, 1995, Tolulope Arotile attended Air Force
Primary School and Air Force Secondary School, both in Kaduna, from
2000 to 2011, before she later gained admission into the Nigerian
Defence Academy as a member of the 64 Regular Course on September
22, 2012. She was commissioned into the Nigerian Air Force as a
Pilot Officer on September 16, 2017, and was winged as the
country’s first-ever female combat helicopter pilot on October 15,
2019, after completing her flight training in South Africa. She
equally held a commercial pilot licence and had undergone tactical
flying training on the Agusta 109 Power Attack Helicopter in Italy.
Before her death, within a short period of her commission, Arotile
had attained over 400 flying hours in the service to the
nation.
Truly, Arotile has left her mark in the sands of time, proving
that when it comes to the attainment of excellence and value
addition to society, age or gender remains a poor measure of
capability, and hence should never be entertained as barriers.
While we thank the late Tolulope Arotile for fighting earnestly
in protecting Nigeria’s sovereign integrity, I pray that other
women of war would keep finding the courage to keep the flag of
excellence flying, while never allowing their gender to constitute
an hindrance to their remarkable capabilities.
Adieu patriot.
Yushau A. Shuaib
Author, Award-Winning Crisis Communication Strategies
www.YAShuaib.com