My most memorable mission as a pilot
– Air Marshal Abubakar
Daily Trust: Looking at your tenure as Chief of Air Staff, what have you done differently from your predecessors? Air Marshal SB Abubakar: Whatever we have been able to achieve in the past two years is because of the enabling environment. For instance, we’ve reactivated 11 airplanes that were not flying before. They’ve been put into good use. In the NorthEast, you have the Mi-17 which is a veritable workhorse, supplying water, food, evacuating wounded soldiers, and so on. Anybody you ask in the NE, even the soldiers, they know the Mi-17 because it has done so much.
I’d say we have taken full advantage to move the NAF forward, I think we have done well in the area of the reactivation of aircraft, improving the serviceability status of many of the ones flying today. We have also trained many pilots. Then we’ve paid attention to welfare of personnel, as it is crucial that they feel important, because they are. That’s another area to thank the Almighty.
When I came on board as CAS in July 2015, I visited Maiduguri and as soon as I landed I said let me see where the soldiers are supposed to be staying. Then I went to a small room with about nine soldiers with small mattresses. A man that has been in this kind of condition is not likely to be effective. The least you can do is to provide the basics, a good place to sleep, make sure his allowances are given to him, ensure he has uniforms, and training. I think we have tried to address that. I am passionate about recognizing that without human beings, nothing is possible.
DT: You have been quiet on the fight against corruption. Is it that there is no corruption in the Air Force?
Abubakar: The conducive environment I mentioned earlier is all-encompassing. The strategic direction given by the federal government - and I am sure you know fighting corruption is very fundamental to all these things - as well as the outlook of the leadership, the body language of the government, all those show that everything about governance now should revolve around people.
Whatever you are seeing in the Air Force that is going well, it is because that environment is there. If not, no matter how much I desire to see things happen, they won’t. Today, there is no way you will fly a NAF aircraft without spare parts. Then for most of our airplanes, for every 25 hours of flying, there must be an inspection.
As for delivery of Jet A1, we have consumed over 1.4 million liters. Because of weather limitations, our consumption is far more than that from January to March. You don’t have to worry about the supply now, because the environment is there. You say 200,000 liters is coming to Maiduguri? Then you remit the amount properly. At the end of the month, vouchers are coming back to prove such amount has been consumed. What is making all these possible is not the CAS or the administrative chiefs, but the enabling environment.
DT: The NAF has gone from being the youngest of the three arms of service to a vibrant, professional one. How was this achieved?
Abubakar: In modern conflict, you cannot fight without airpower. If you don’t have airpower, you have no business being on the battlefield. There is the advantage of speed, altitude, width, flexibility and so on. You can wrap-up a situation in the North-East one moment, and turn the aircraft to the SouthSouth in another. We do not have the limitation of terrain. Maybe weather, but even with good training and equipment, you can do quite much in whatever weather.
But to answer your question, we are training and retraining, making sure our pilots have the required skills because it is economical to do that.
DT: How would you rank the Air Force you ‘inherited’ to the one we have today?
Abubakar: When I came in 2015, we had some challenges. Even the number of fighter aircraft in the North-East was nothing to write home about and the welfare situation was not addressed properly, in my opinion. We evaluated the situation and within a few days we were able to get new airplanes. Attitude is an issue, not necessarily the leadership of the Air Force. There were quite a number of issues, but we were lucky to have an environment that allows us to do so many things.
We are lucky that we came on board at the time when the leadership of the country has made clear the direction it wants to go. That has made it easy for the leadership at the topmost level of the Air Force, as we don’t have to talk too much. The language is clear, the message is there: If I provide resources for certain things, I don’t have to follow you up and down for it to get done. That message is there.
Also, we’ve been able to move the Air Force forward. We have shown concern for the personnel, for the schools their children attend, their accommodation, the hospitals - most of which have CT scans, MRIs, comfortable wards - and it doesn’t matter what rank you are. Therefore, people are now willing to do more because they know the system is concerned about them.
Even in terms of the fight in the North-East, we have trained a trauma team that follows the aircraft to go evacuate the wounded. The mere sight of someone checking your blood pressure, putting a drip on you right in the cabin of the aircraft, is comforting. This has also boosted the morale of the soldiers. That is why we have been able to move the Air Force forward.
We’ve received some support from a number of friendly countries like the United States. Also, Pakistan gave us their PAC Super Mushshak aircraft to use before ours which we
we ordered for, are ready. We have sent about 19 people to Pakistan to train on that aircraft, and that’s what I call real support. We have been to a number of countries to solicit support, like the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Russia. We’re working on Morocco because they have the same kinds of airplanes we fly. They are all committed to assisting, and in my opinion it is because of the environment. Things have changed.
Looking to the future, the NAF is gradually regaining its glory. Look at the Gambian crisis, we were the first and only air force, apart from the Senegalese who didn’t have a single fighter aircraft. Our boys had the details of where [Yahya] Jammeh was staying and they went and flew low-level overhead, and within a few hours the man was talking of moving out.
In the past, we couldn’t have pulled out any aircraft from the North-East to go anywhere. We were more concerned about having serviceable aircraft to fight immediate problems.
DT: Let’s get a little personal with you, career-wise. As a fighter pilot, what would you say is the most memorable mission you’ve been on? Any close shaves?
Abubakar: If you’re asking if I ever came close to crashing, yes I have. Once, flying a BO-105 helicopter to Makurdi, on low-level, we almost went into the river.
As for my most memorable mission, it has to be when we were flying from Kaduna to Abuja in an Mi-17 and we spotted that an accident had happened. We just landed by the roadside to pick those who were wounded, and some were dead. We also called for an ambulance and when we landed, we contacted the families of the guys we had rescued, and they were surprised that an aircraft picked them. We didn’t know someone was calling then-President Obasanjo to tell him about what we did. That was memorable.
DT: The NAF has conducted - and is still conducting - intense surveillance flights over Sambisa Forest. Why haven’t there been sightings of Chibok girls?
Abubakar: I have said it before, that there is no day the sun rises and sets that we do not go out hoping to see the Chibok girls, or other Nigerians in captivity. Out of the missions that we have conducted, the surface forces have gone out to rescue many women and children.
We had the opportunity to take the Bring Back Our Girls people around, they saw what we do and we showed them what we were doing even before they came. We are working everyday with our ISR platforms looking around to see if we will have an idea where these girls are. But you must remember Sambisa Forest is about 60,000 square kilometres. The insurgents also look at those girls as special captives and whatever they will do to conceal their movement, they will. We will continue to work round the clock, and our prayer is that God will continue to help us. We are very optimistic that, God willing, we will be able to celebrate the return of the girls.
DT: You served in Maiduguri and successfully fought illegal oil bunkering. Is there a strategy we could borrow from that campaign, to apply to the current war against insurgency? Abubakar: Yes, we dealt with the issue of illegal oil bunkering. We used to pass through the same Sambisa Forest, so I am very familiar with some of the villages there, like Gwoza, Pulka, Alimankara, and Damboa. Honestly, it is something terrible. Last time I visited Bama and saw what it had become, I was very sad. It was a very lively town before the insurgency. At that time I used to carry only six soldiers, without tanks or anything, and we’d be secure. Now, less than 30 years after, we have to use fighter aircraft. How could people change so drastically?
DT: The Nigerian Army and NAF are actively engaged in the North-East, but there have been some reports of a sort of rivalry between the two arms of service. Can you clear the air on that?
Abubakar: It is the work of mischief-makers. There is absolutely no reason for a competition between the NAF and the Army, not at all. We have an Air Component Commander that is working under the Theater Commander and they are working well together. We are working together as a team, at the strategic, operational and tactical levels. No service can do it on its own; the Army requires the Air Force, and the Air Force requires the Army.
DT: On the Rann bombing, we understand the report has been submitted. Can you share with us some of the findings?
Abubakar: It was a very tragic incident. We have forwarded the report to the Defence Headquarters and probably from there to the Ministry of Defence. It was tragic, and often associated with wars. It was a mistake. What is important is that we pray for the families of the victims, and see how we can support them, which we are planning to do. Usually when such a thing happens, you find there is a communication gap somewhere and what you need to do is find why that gap came into existence. Also, to look at what you can do to ensure it does not happen again. Where there are glaring cases of people being negligent, we will not hesitate to discipline.
We have interacted with a number of NGOs working there and advised them that anytime they are going for any outreach, they should give us some notice. We have suggested a way for them to identify themselves, even to aircraft flying above.
We double-check with any of these organisations before we start deploying our airplanes, to be sure we do not have this kind of situation ever again. Remember we have flown over 7000 hours in over eight years, and this is the first time we’re running into this problem. I am not defending it in any way, and it’s very tragic.
DT: Recently, there were reports of the United States selling some aircraft to the NAF. How soon are the new jets reaching our shores?
Abubakar: We’re working hand-in-hand with the United States, and they are very supportive. We have expressed our desire for these aircraft, but we will allow the US Congress to go through their processes. What I can tell you is that the US is supporting the NAF.
‘My most memorable mission as a pilot ‘ We are lucky that we came on board at the time when the leadership of the country has made clear the direction it wants to go. That has made it easy for the leadership at the topmost level of the Air Force