The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, toured the operational facilities at the Nigerian Air Force Bases in Makurdi and Kainji on Tuesday. He was accompanied by selected Branch Chiefs at NAF Headquarters.

NAF Spokesman, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya, said in a statement: “The essence of the visit was to monitor the state of the facilities, most of which are critical to the maintenance of the fighter aircraft being employed in the ongoing counterinsurgency operations against the Boko Haram insurgents and other subversive elements in Nigeria.”

“During the visit, Air Marshal Abubakar found most of the equipment to be in a satisfactory state and commended the personnel for their dedication to duty and harped on the need for senior personnel to intensify efforts at mentoring the younger ones through in-house training,” Adesanya said.

He disclosed that the newly commissioned building would be used to accommodate 120 recruits upon completing the basic military training in Kaduna.

“Similarly, at Kainji, the CAS commissioned three blocks of 6 x 2-bedroom flats for Senior Non-Commissioned Officers to further reduce the accommodation challenge in the Service.

“In addition, he commissioned the newly renovated and furnished Technicians' Crew Room to aid service delivery,” Adesanya said.

He disclosed that while being interviewed, Air Marshal Abubakar expressed his belief that “the human being is the most important resource and every effort must be made to ensure his/her comfort towards increasing productivity.”

The CAS added that his belief had been vindicated with the number of aircraft that had been reactivated by NAF personnel, among other numerous achievements.

NAF had recently expanded its training facilities for initial training in Kaduna to enable the training of 3,500 recruits per session, thus necessitating the provision of adequate residential accommodation for the recruits upon deployment to NAF units across the country.