The Nigerian Air Force is currently battling the huge resignation of personnel, prompting the introduction of stringent measures to arrest the worrying trend.

The PUNCH in October 2024 reported that the Nigerian Army was experiencing an acute shortage of manpower, due to the high number of those who voluntarily retired.

To fill the vacancy, it was gathered that the Army was planning to re-engage discharged soldiers.

However, the Air Force, jolted by the same exodus, in a memo, titled ?Air Secretary?s Instruction 1/2025: Guidelines for Retirement and Discharge in the NAF? and marked with Reference Number NAF/300/AIRSEC, said NAF personnel intending to retire or discharge from service are now required to submit their applications two years ahead of their intended exit date.

The memo, dated January 10, 2025, and signed by the Air Vice Marshal A. H. Bakari, stated that the increasing number of personnel seeking early retirement, often with minimal notice posed a threat to the service?s manpower, cohesion, and operational efficiency.

The memo partly read, ?Over the years, the NAF has had to cope with an increase in requests for retirement by personnel. In most instances such applications are by personnel seeking to exit the service within a very short period of time from the date their application was received.

?The effects of such development amongst others, if left to continue, are firstly, the NAF will continue to experience unregulated attrition that portends the ability to deplete the manpower required for its operations, especially where highly skilled workforce is required.

?Secondly, the seriousness accorded to military service could be reduced to that of mere preoccupation, that could convey the erroneous impression of the liberty to disengage at will, even when the timing of such disengagement could negatively affect moral, cohesion, effectiveness of operations in the NAF and national security.?

Bakari stated that the service also risked losing its return on investment in the training and development of personnel if the trend was allowed to continue.

He said, ?Thirdly, the NAF will continue to be disadvantaged as it pertains to benefiting from its return on investment made in personnel training. In this regard, the NAF, without exploiting the full potentials of its trained personnel, could unintentionally become a breeding ground of skilled workforce for other organisations to poach.

?Gleaning from the above, and without prejudice to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is thus, imperative to outline modalities for the retirement/discharge of NAF personnel, in ways that will not impede the service?s effectiveness and efficiency and will also meet the aspirations of its personnel desiring to retire/discharge.

?Accordingly, the process for personnel retiring or discharging from the NAF would, henceforth, be time-sequenced to permit the service sufficient time to plan for the disruption occasioned by the exit of its personnel, as well as to permit personnel who intend to retire/discharge have enough time to introspect on modalities for their disengagement.?

Reeling out the new guidelines in the memo, Bakari said, ?All personnel desiring to retire/discharge are to make such application only after serving the mandatory initial period of engagement as it pertains to the affected personnel?s type of commission and cadre provided in the HTACOS 2024 Offrs and Airmen, respectively.

?Personnel intending to retire/discharge are to submit their application in writing and such application is to reach HQ NAF two years before the intended date of retirement/discharge by the personnel.

?Upon receipt of a personnel?s application to retire, such personnel are not to be nominated for any PME or Specialist Course. Where such nomination has been made before the receipt of the personnel?s application, it is to be cancelled.

?Personnel who have applied for retirement/discharge are not to be considered for promotion, deployment for PSO, foreign service or extra regimental appointment except at the discretion of the CAS.

?HQ NAF (Air Sec) is to process and forward to the CAS, for approval, all applications that meet the requirements for discharge in the case of airmen, while those for officers are to be forwarded to the CAS for recommendation to the Air Council for approval.?

He said the instruction took immediate effect and must be cited as Air Secretary?s Instruction 1/2025.

The PUNCH reports that the new directive of the service is inconsistent with a March 2024 judgment of the National Industrial Court in Abuja.

Justice Olufunke Anuwe, while validating the resignation of a medical doctor, Dr. Elkanah John, from the service of the Nigerian Air Force effective from July 22, 2019, held that when the Constitution provides that a resignation takes effect upon receipt of the resignation letter by the relevant authority, implying that the authority has no role in approving or rejecting the resignation.

Justice Anuwe ruled that Dr. John had voluntarily joined the service of the Nigerian Air Force and had the right to voluntarily resign from the service.

The judge further emphasised that military service is not slavery, and as such, the Chief of Air Staff and the Nigerian Air Force cannot compel Dr. John to remain in the service when he had expressed his desire to leave and had properly notified the authorities through his resignation.

Our correspondent gathered that the Air Force has appealed the judgment at the Court of Appeal, but the court is yet to deliver its verdict on the matter.

Personnel explain exodus

Some personnel of the Nigerian Air Force, who have tendered their resignation letters, cited discrimination, poor welfare, ineffective policy formulation, and limited access to opportunities as reasons for their decision to leave.

One of them who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of being victimised by the service said DRC officers are highly disregarded in the Air Force.

The officer said, ?T?e DRC officers are treated like pieces of shit by regular officers who are in charge of the service. All good postings, appointments and foreign missions are reserved for regular officers but all the dirty jobs are for the DRC. This started during Amao as the Chief of Air Staff and continues to date.

?To be released for study, your course and who you know are factored in. If you see any DRC officers who are still in the service, they are looking for a way out because they are all not happy with the system, which is against them. These officers are like 50 percent of the officers cadre in the Air force. Every of their policies is aimed at placing the RC at undue advantage over the DRC officers. The mentality they have sown into the youngest RC officers is to belittle the DRC officers. The DRC officers are disgruntled and looking for a way out of the service.

?The service is so divided that if you?re a regular officer I don?t like you. That?s because of the hatred they have shown me just because I didn?t go to the academy. How can a military organisation be like that? The best thing is just to excuse them, let them do what they want to do. With this new policy, they should expect a lot of court cases. I joined voluntarily, I should be allowed to go voluntarily.?

Another personnel, who spoke with our correspondent, also lamented about poor welfare.

According to the officer, lodging allowance meant for personnel are being sat on, while half of officers posting allowance are being paid, contrary to what is contained in the Financial Manual of the Armed forces.

The personnel said, ?Also, there is corruption which has become so pronounced in the service, which is affecting personnel welfare and morale. All Air Force personnel are entitled to lodging allowance, which is like rent that they pay to personnel they are not able to accommodate within the barracks. As a married officer, I am entitled to a three-bedroom apartment where I should stay with my family. If that is not available I am supposed to be paid a lodging allowance with which I should rent an apartment for my family.

?At some point, they stopped paying some ranks the money. They said they would use the money to build accommodation in the bases so that the younger ones can stay in the barracks and be available in case there?s need for rapid deployment. Nobody had issues with that because SB Abubakar was building accommodation then.

?Even then, we had no accommodation and lodging allowance. We had no problem because the rate at which building projects were being inaugurated, we believed sooner or later, it would get to us. But the moment Abubakar left office, all the building projects stopped. Till today,the projects are still abandoned. Even transit accommodation is no longer available for personnel. Ask anyone else about the situation of their accommodation, they would lament to you and yet we are not being paid lodging allowances and I am quite sure they are receiving this money from the government, but they are not paying us and are not providing us accommodation. For how long do you want me to stay in this kind of situation, especially if I have other options.?

The officer also complained about posting allowance, which he described as poor and corruption-ridden.

He said, ?What is in the Financial Manual of the Armed forces for my rank is N560,000 but the Air force pays N280, 000, where is the remaining money? Nobody can ask questions. People are being frustrated with policies in the service and yet you want to block their exit route? What do you want us to stay for? Policies are changed every day as it suits them to deny personnel benefits that are provided for in the harmonised terms and condition of service.

?For instance, how do you expect a personnel who has lost interest in serving to give two years notice before retirement. That implies adding two years to what is applicable in the terms and conditions of service. Policies are made in the Air Force without regards for the Constitution of the country and the harmonised terms and conditions of the Armed Forces.?

Another personnel planning to leave the service berated the service for making it difficult to leave yet policies to make the working environment were not put in place.

?The AFN is turning into a conscripted force. The excesses of the services need to be checked before a total breakdown of the whole system.

?A lot of us are asking to leave. Several medical doctors have left. Our hospitals are now in comatose. If they want to leave before the stipulated time, allow them to leave, the only thing is don?t give them the pension, gratuity and other benefits. You don?t have the power to force me to serve, I am not a conscript . They have a situation where about 13 pilots have applied to leave and that is one of the reasons that gave birth to the policy. You know what it means to train a pilot? The resources and time to train them? If you give many people an alternative today, they would leave. Everybody I know is willing to leave once they have the opportunity,? the personnel said.

A discharged NAF personnel, who identified himself as Umar AbdulHafiz, aka CA on Facebook, slammed the service for introducing such policy.

He urged the service to formulate policies that would enable the Air force keep it personnel.

AbdulHafiz said, ?According to the Nigerian Constitution you can retire voluntarily. The Nigerian Constitution is superior to any Act or any policy being made by the Nigerian Air Force. Go and read the Nigerian Constitution, Sections 1 and 217 (1) (2) (3) and (4) and Section 218(4). No military law should tamper with your fundamental human rights.

?The Air Force should look for policies that will benefit its men. What are those policies that can benefit your men that will make them not to leave the service In time? Number one policy, bring back lodging allowance to at least senior NCO and above, Squadron Leader and above. Number two, the entitlement for posting which is being paid in half.?

Also, a former Air Force personnel, who didn?t want give his name because of fear of being reprimanded, said it is dangerous to force people to stay against their wish.

He said, ?I don?t need to spend any required number of years; I joined voluntarily and I am no longer interested. In fact, the only thing I owe them is to inform them, which I did. My resignation is not subject to anybody?s approval. This case has been argued in court over and over again.Why I left is a long story and I doubt if they can be addressed and even if they are, I have moved on.

?Military service is not like a normal job. When a military personnel loses interest, it is dangerous for both the personnel and the service if the personnel decides to stay.?

When contacted, the Air Force spokesperson, Olusola Akinboyewa said, ?Hello, Solomon, and thanks for the enquiry. The Air Secretary Branch of the Headquarters NAF handles all matters pertaining to HRM for NAF personnel. Before I can give you a comprehensive response, I would need to consult the branch and verify the info and records. That cannot be done today as we are out of the office. So would you please be willing to check back with me tomorrow, when we are in the office and I can engage with the branch.? (The PUNCH: Text, Excluding Headline)

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