The Chief of Air Staff, Air-Vice Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has restated his commitment to reposition the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiatives.

Abubakar made the pledged on Friday in Abuja at a retreat for Commanders and Senior Officers at the end of a 2-day seminar on Standard and Evaluation.

“Our vision is to reposition NAF into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiatives for effective, efficient and timely employment of air power in response to Nigeria’s security imperatives.

“The reason for calling you out is for us to have a clear understanding of what the direction of the Air Force leadership is going to be so that we will be on the same page.”

Abubakar explained that the two days seminar was also to give insight into what was expected of commanders at all levels in line with the vision of the Air Force leadership.

He said that they key word in the vision of NAF was about having a disciplined force and indeed a professional force that would act within the provision of the law.

Abubakar assured that the leadership of NAF was committed to building a professional force that would protect the rights of citizens and deal with security challenges in the country.

The chief of air staff stressed the need for the officers and men of NAF to respect the rights of the citizens.

“We must go back to our ethics as military personals to have a professional force that will have the knowledge required to function effectively and efficiently.”

He urged the commanders to be prudent in the management of resources with a view to enhance transparency and accountability.

“When you have a situation where you have scarcity of resources and competing needs from other Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Parastatals (MDAs), you cannot but be prudent if you want to succeed.”

Abubakar said that a professional force was expected to use and to make the best out of what it had, saying “no organisation gets what it want at all times.” (NAN)

•Photo shows Chief of Air Staff, Abubakar

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