The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, has called on newly graduated Nigerian Air Force (NAF) pilots to regard their flying certifications as a national duty, not just personal milestones.
He gave the charge on Friday at the combined graduation ceremony of Basic Transport Flying Course 5 and Ab-initio Student Pilot Course 49, held at the 401 Flying Training School (FTS) in Kaduna.
This was disclosed in a statement by Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodam, Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, and made available to Defence Correspondents in Abuja.
While addressing the 35 new pilots—comprising 10 graduates of the Basic Transport Course and 25 Ab-initio Student Pilots—Air Marshal Abubakar reminded them of the heavy responsibility they now bear.
According to the CAS, “In the Nigerian Air Force, we say that the quality of our training determines the strength of our operations, this is why, under my leadership, we are upgrading training institutions, inducting more aircraft, and evolving our doctrines to meet the demands of modern warfare.”
It added that Air Marshal Abubakar described the graduation as another milestone in the ongoing transformation of the NAF into a more agile, resilient, and technology-driven force.
The CAS commended the 401 FTS for over four decades of excellence in pilot training, during which it had produced more than 700 pilots for the NAF, Nigerian Navy, and other African countries, including Republic of Benin, Cape Verde, Niger, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone
He reiterated the Nigerian Air Force’s unwavering dedication to enhancing professional capacity, improving personnel welfare, and executing its constitutional mandate to safeguard Nigeria’s territorial integrity while supporting national development.
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