By Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, Director of Public Relations and Information, Nigerian Air Force
Following the recent promotion of senior officers of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to the next higher ranks as well as the retirement of some senior officers of air rank, it has become necessary to reorganize and ensure senior officers hold appropriate appointments for operational efficiency and effectiveness. Accordingly, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has authorized the appointments of a total of 72 senior officers comprising 27 Air Vice Marshals (AVMs), 30 Air Commodores (Air Cdres), 8 Group Captains (Gp Capts), 4 Wing Commanders (Wg Cdrs) and 3 Squadron Leaders (Sqn Ldrs).
Prominent among those affected by the new postings are: AVM Emmanuel Anebi who is now the Chief of Policy and Plans Headquarters NAF (HQ NAF) and AVM Nurudeen Balogun, who has been appointed as the Chief of Defence Policy and Plans at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ). In addition, AVM Charles Otegbade has been appointed as the College Secretary, National Defence College while AVM Rufus Ojuawo is taking over as the Chairman Air Expo and International Liaison Secretariat.
Other appointments include those of AVM Napoleon Bali as the new Air Officer Commanding (AOC), Special Operations Command, Bauchi, AVM Oladayo Amao as the new Chief of Training and Operations at HQ NAF, AVM Abdulganiyu Olabisi as the new AOC Logistics Command, Ikeja and AVM John Baba as the new AOC Tactical Air Command. Likewise, AVM Mahmoud Ahmed has been redeployed as the Air Secretary HQ NAF, AVM Remigus Ekeh appointed as the new Chief of Standards and Evaluation at HQ NAF, while AVM Ibukun Ojeyemi becomes the new Director of Policy at HQ NAF.
Furthermore, AVM Musibau Olatunji is now the Director of Air Engineering at HQ NAF, while AVM Peter Uzezi has been appointed as the new AOC Mobility Command.
Also appointed are AVM Dahiru Sanda, who is now a Directing Staff at National Institute of Policy and Strategic studies, AVM Ismaila Yahaya as the new Director of Training at HQ NAF, AVM Idi Lubo as Director NAF Transformation at HQ NAF, AVM Mohammed Yakubu redeployed as the Chief of Logistics HQ NAF and AVM Emmanuel Wonah as the new Director of Sports at DHQ. Similarly, AVM Paul Jemitola has been appointed as the new Director Research and Development at HQ NAF, AVM Anderson Kassimu as Director Civil Military Relations at DHQ and AVM Ibrahim Ali as the new Deputy Commandant, Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna.
Meanwhile, AVM Musa Tanko is to take over as Director of Space Utilization at DHQ while AVM Musa Muktar has been redeployed as the new Chief of Aircraft Engineering at HQ NAF. In addition, AVM Maxwell Nnaji has been appointed as the new Chief of Communication Information Systems at HQ NAF, AVM Emmanuel Chukwu as the new Director Earth Observation at Defence Space Administration and AVM Aliyu Bello as the new Chief of Staff at Headquarters Special Operations Command, while AVM Olusegun Philip is to take over as the new Director of Evaluation at HQ NAF. Also, Air Cdre Abraham Adole has been appointed as the Principal Air Staff Officer to the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Cdre Ayodele Laoye as Director of Procurement and Gp Capt Jika Sanda as the Director of Legal Services HQ NAF.
The newly posted and redeployed senior officers are expected to take over their new offices not later than 25 January 2019.