The Nigerian Air Force has underscored the need to train young officers on strategies for winning the war against the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-eastern region before the December deadline.
Speaking at the ECOMOG Veterans Retreat held in Yola on Thursday, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadiq Abubakar, said the Air force has deployed veterans who successfully fought rebels in some African countries under the ECOMOG to mentor and train its young officers.
The Air Force boss said the reason was to build the capacity of the younger generation of officers especially on how to combat the insurgents, adding that the young officers need adequate knowledge to be efficient and to face the challenges of the 21 centaury.
He said the idea was to bring veterans who had retired from Air force to share their experiences with the young officers with a view to resolving some of the challenges being encountered in air operations in the North East.
“Basically in terms of the use of air power they (fight against Boko Haram and ECOMOG air operations) are basically the same. We believe they (ECOMOG veterans) were very successful, so we want know what were the challenges when they were using the same planes, Alpha jets while operating in ECOMOG. What were the challenges, how similar are the challenges and how were they able to resolve them. We believe there are so many things the younger ones can learn”, he stated.
He explained that with the aid of the Air force, the military have succeeded in degrading the fighting capability of the insurgents and has gone deeper in to the dreaded Sambisa forest with the aim to root out the insurgents that has taken grip of the forest.
“We have degraded the capacity of the insurgents and we are coordinating with the army so that we can ultimately get in to the forest. You should also know that you have a role to play. I think collectively as a nation, we are moving toward the deadline”,he said.
Abubakar said the air force was also strategizing to bombard the insurgents in the night as he said the insurgents usually take advantage of the fact that their fighter jets do not operate in night hence unleashes their attacks mostly in the night.
According to him, the Air Force leadership has been improving on its operational capabilty and welfare of its personnel to be able to cope with the current challenges and discharge its responsibilities effectively, saying the unity of the country rely on the military.
One of the veterans who served as a resource person at the one-day retreat, retired Air Vice Marshal Gabriel Odesola said the Alpha jets currently deployed by the Air Force were used to subdue the forces of Siereleon rebel leader, Major Koroma by ECOMOG in 1997, leading to reinstatement of the then ousted President, Tijjani Kabba.
In separate chats with the press, both the retired Air Commodore, Joe Okoye and retired Air Vice Marshal Adebiyi Okaniawon expressed confidence that the retreat will further equip the serving Air Force personnel with necessary skills to over the current challenges.