Nigeria’s Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar has tasked Officers and men of the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) in Kaduna State, to be innovative and research oriented in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s change agenda geared towards ending insurgency in the nation’s north-east.
He made the call during the 44th Convocation Ceremony of the institute on Wednesday.
The Air Chief stressed that for the institute to contribute to the fight against the Boko Haram terrorists, it must tailor its research and innovations in line with the contemporary challenges confronting the nation.
The Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology was established in 2008 to create a higher level maintenance capacity locally for the aviation, aerospace and allied disciplines of the service and its sister agencies.
Since its inception, the institute has ventured into innovation of military hardware that could assist the nation’s security needs.
One of such innovations was a prototype unmanned aircraft produced locally by research students of the Institute two years ago.
It was designed to tackle insecurity through enhanced air surveillance.
The test flight of the aircraft took place under the close watch of the Chief of Air Staff and the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, during the graduation ceremony.
The innovation, however, requires a modification in order to ensure its usability.
A total of 400 students comprising of Aerospace engineers, Aircraft engineers and Explosive Ordinance Technologists among others were awarded certificates in National Diploma, Higher National Diploma and Post Graduate Diploma.
They have successfully completed their courses and satisfied the institute’s academic standards.
One by one, they filed out to receive their certificates.
The commandant of the institute, Air Commodore Misbau Soladoye, expressed satisfaction with the students’ academic performance and urged them to be Ambassadors of the institute whenever they find themselves.
Since inception, the school has graduated about 4,700 officers, including personnel of the Nigerian Army, Navy and foreign students from other African countries.
