The Nigeria Air Force (NAF) on Monday hosted three African countries for the African Partnership Flight (APF) in Lagos to further enhance regional cooperation, increase interoperability and build capacity.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Chad, Niger and Benin Republic participated in the US-backed APF – a multi-lateral military-to-military engagement designed to boost African cooperation in aviation.
Speaking at the opening, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, said it was important for contiguous nations to pull their resources together to ensure a synergy in their operations.
“Globally, the concept of regional forces has gained recognition as the best approach towards solving common security issues.
“This is because the most prevalent form of warfare in contemporary times is asymmetric in nature and often transcends international borders,’’ he said.
Abubakar said that the regional synergy was for the common goal of stamping out the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East of Nigeria.
“The NAF, which is one of the instruments of national power, is not unmindful of the occasional need for services to participating in both joint and combined operations.
“The service is also mindful of the effect and aftermath of insurgency with particular reference to the plight of innocent civilians including women and children, who often are the unintended victims.
“We are all aware of the current Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria which has resulted in over two million Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) who are in dire need of one basic need or the other,’’ he said.
Abubakar said it was for this reason that NAF embarked on several humanitarian programmes aimed at alleviating the plight of the IDPs.
He commended the U.S. Air Force Command in Europe for bringing together countries of the region to stimulate a combined security and humanitarian environment.
The Lagos State Gov., Akinwunmi Ambode, in his keynote address, said armed forces all over the world have the traditional role to defending their nations from external aggression and maintaining territorial integrity.
Represented by the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr Oluseye Oladejo, Ambode said the armed forces had been busy doing a good job of confronting our nation’s multifaceted internal security challenges.
“With the changing trends in modern warfare, armed forces have been further saddled with the tremendous responsibility of providing regional security through multinational joint forces.
“However, the major problems confronting such multinational forces are usually differences in doctrines, training, weapon, language and cultures, thus, underscoring the need for constant joint training to enhance interoperability.
“You will all recall that in a bid to re-position the armed forces to better cope with those challenges, the present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has made modernisation, re-equipping and continuous training a top priority,’’ he said.
He said it was particularly noteworthy that the U.S. had been supportive in the efforts at building the capacity of NAF personnel.
“On the choice of theme, I expect that this event would contribute to further building the capacity of the NAF personnel in their untiring efforts at reaching IDPs and other non-combatants,’’ he said.
Highlights of the 2017 APF, themed – Aero medical Evacuation and Medical Deployment – included training of officials from participating countries and static display showcasing the arrangement of stretchers in the NAF C-130H aircraft.
Present at the exercise were senior military officers and their counterparts from the U.S and other African countries.
