The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has urged safety officers to work with commanders in the field to help inculcate good safety habits and practices in air operations.
This, the CAS noted, would enhance the effectiveness of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in dealing with national security challenges.
He gave this charge yesterday, 26 October 2018, at the graduation ceremony of Flight Safety Officers’ Course 2/2018 of the Nigerian Air Force Institute of Safety (NAFIS) at 401 Flying Training School, NAF Base Kaduna.
The CAS, who was represented by the Chief of Standards and Evaluation, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) John Baba, said apart from producing safety officers for the NAF, the Institute is raising a crop of young safety thinkers who would ensure the desired paradigm shift towards ‘thinking safety’ and ‘acting safety’, both now and in future.
“These new entrants with the right mindset of safety in the aviation industry would undoubtedly add value to the NAF Safety Culture and enhance her crew efficiency in flight operations thereby making the aviation industry safer” the CAS said.
Considering the rich content of the course modules, calibre of the Institute’s faculty as well as the theoretical and practical exercises undertaken during the 12 weeks course, the CAS said the graduands have had effective and quality safety training.
He therefore congratulated them for successfully completing the course and encouraged them to be good safety ambassadors.
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He also commended the Air Officer Commanding Air Training Command (AOC ATC) as well as the Commandant and staff of the Institute for steadily developing the Institute into a hub of excellence in safety training.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commandant NAFIS, Air Commodore Edward Adedokun, revealed that the Institute had trained well over 550 personnel since its establishment on 1 April 2010.
He stated that the in-country training has afforded the NAF the opportunity to train more personnel at comparatively lower cost and has the benefit of hands-on training in own environment.
He said this year alone, the Institute had trained 123 personnel including pilots, air traffic controllers, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operators, aircraft and armament engineers, as well as personnel from several other NAF specialties, in flight safety and different aspects of safety relevant to their fields.
He disclosed that the Flight Safety Officers Course 2 was special as all the 45 graduands are student pilots who have completed their primary flying training on fixed-wing platforms and helicopters, awaiting basic flying training.
The Commandant ended by thanking the CAS for his tireless support which had empowered the Institute to effectively execute its safety training programmes.
The ceremony, which had the new AOC ATC, AVM Muhammad Suleiman, and Commanders of co-located NAF Units in attendance, also featured presentation of awards to students who distinguished themselves during the course.
Flying Officer Emmanuel Ugwoke clinched the CAS Award while the AOC ATC and Commandant’s Awards went to Flying Officers Anthony Durymsu and Isiaka Adepoju, respectively.
Ibikunle Daramola
Air Commodore
Director of Public Relations and Information, Nigerian Air Force
