NIGERIA - The Akwa Ibom State Government has advocated the establishment of a
full Airforce Base to ensure the requisite training of graduates of the
Airforce Secondary School located in the State.
Governor Udom
Emmanuel made the advocacy when the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air
Marshall Sadique Abubakar, led other top officers of the Nigerian
Airforce to pay a courtesy visit on him, at Government House, Uyo.
The Governor, who commended the Nigerian Airforce on its interest in
maintaining qualitative education in its post primary institution in the
state, remarked that the establishment of an Airforce Base would afford
an opportunity for students from the institution who desire to serve in
the Airforce, to fulfill their dreams.
He said "I really want it
to be on record that during your tenure as Chief of Air Staff, an
Airforce Base was established in Akwa Ibom State, so that when you
graduate those brilliant students, they will have Airforce Base to go
and train as Airforce Officers, it is called complete value chain.
"Most of them, you could see the way they were smiling, they all want
to look like the CAS but how can they, when there is no Airforce Base to
go and train to satisfy that desire? Please see what you can do to give
us a full-fledged Airforce Base".
While expressing hope on the
fulfillment of promises by the Minister of State on Aviation, to
establish a Flight Command Training School in the state, Governor
Emmanuel re-echoed his administration's commitment to the upgrading of
facilities at the Akwa Ibom International Airport, saying that apart
from upgrading the runway to category 2, the state government has put in
place new Instrument Landing System (ILS) to ensure safe landing of
aircrafts.
According to the governor, "we invested a lot of money
to upgrade the runway and put in new ILS, it's only that here in
Nigeria, we don't have category 3 runway yet, the day we have, we will
also upgrade the one in our airport. We have made provision for normal
lighting on the taxiway too but it can only be triggered in cases of
emergency so it won't confuse with the main runway".
Emmanuel
hinted that the Maintenance, Repairs and Overhaul (MRO) section of the
airport will soon commence operations, explaining that arrangement is
underway for the state government to partner aircraft maintenance
companies with contracts within Aftica to sustain the MRO.
He
appreciated the CAS for proposing partnership with the Universities in
the State on Research and Development (R&D), announcing that the
state government has concluded plans with some International Oil
Companies (IOCs) and two Universities in the US.A, to establish a fully
equipped Faculty of Engineering to cater for practical training in
Engineering at the state owned University.
The State Chief
Executive congratulated the Nigerian Airforce helmsman on the extension
of service years of all Service Chiefs, by the Presidency, attributing
it to the leadership traits and professionalism displayed in the
discharge of responsibilities, by the personnel incharge of sensitive
institutions in the country.
In his address, the CAS, Air
Marshall Abubaker said they were in the state on inspection tour of
facilities of the Nigerian Airforce and to appreciate the Akwa Ibom
State Government for providing needed support to enhance the proper
functioning of the institution in the state, pointing out that the
Airforce Comprehensive Secondary school was one of such facilities.
Abubakar indicated the interest of the Nigerian Airforce to secure
partnership with the Akwa Ibom State Government, especially in the area
of R&D, stating that the Nigerian Airforce has Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with 15 Universities in the country to develop
capacity for the maintenance of airplanes in their fleet.
He
stressed that such collaboration has enabled the Nigerian Airforce to
successfully produce some required items to maintain aircrafts,
mentioning that the helicopter diaphragm and the Anti-Skid Test Bench, a
system used in testing the anti-skid system of a fighter jet, are now
produced in Nigeria as against inittial importation of the items.
The CAS noted, "In the past, we used to import these systems but now,
in the last four years, we are producing them in Nigeria because of the
partnership we have established with the Nigerian Universities".
He remarked that a team from the Airforce R&D Centre in Kaduna,
would soon be despatched to the two Universities in Akwa Ibom, to
identify and open up areas of partnership that would also cater for the
maintenance challenges of fighter aircrafts and helicopters that are
operating in the country.
Earlier, the Governor had accompanied
the Chief of Air Staff to commission a newly constructed boys hostel at
the Airforce Comprehensive Secondary School, located in Ibesikpo Asutan
Local Government Area of the state.
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