Afta some small peace for North East Nigeria, Boko Haram and di Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) don start wahala again. Dem don dey attack places for Borno and Yobe states, kill soldiers, collect weapons, and even use drone join dia fight.
For one special interview wey Vanguard do to mark 61 years of Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, yarn about di wahala wey dey face Nigeria fight against insurgency. E talk say di kind fight wey we dey face no be small one and e dey cost plenty money to maintain air power for dis kind complex battle.
“Dis kain wahala no dey finish quick,” e talk. E explain say na serious military work for 2023 make violence reduce small, and many of di bad people surrender. But as attention shift go North West to face bandits, di ones for North East gather again. “People bin think say North East don calm down, but di threat still dey,” na so Abubakar talk.
According to am, na only about 25 to 30 percent of di insecurity military fit handle. Di rest na wetin we go tackle with other ways – like fighting poverty, unemployment, and make people dey engaged with better things. “Even if military win today, if di whole society no join hand, all di effort fit scatter quick,” e warn.
E still talk say make better relationship dey between civilians and military. NAF don dey work with some state governments to do community outreach like free health care and school programs.
To run air operations no cheap at all. “One missile from our Chinese drone na $150,000, and di bomb e dey carry na another $95,000,” e talk. This one no even include maintenance, fuel or training, wey fit cost $10,000 to $30,000 per flight. “To run Air Force dey very expensive,” e add.
Now wey terrorists dey use drones fight soldiers, people dey fear say NAF fit no ready. Abubakar agree say di enemies don wise up, dem dey modify commercial drones for fight. E say make we invest more for radar and artificial intelligence. As e be, Nigeria no get complete radar coverage, so e hard to track low or medium flying drones.
“We need better radar wey fit see any object for sky – low, mid or high. But we never get am fully,” e talk. But e still say small counter-drone system don already dey for some military base.
Di Air Chief also talk say NAF dey work with foreign partners to build local skill for new technology. Dem even sign agreement with University of Bradford AI center to train Nigerians and develop AI defense system.
As people dey complain say air support dey delay during ground attacks – like di recent one for Marte, Borno – Abubakar say coordination still be issue, but dem dey work on am. NAF don even open Air-Ground Integration School to train other service members make all of dem fit work better together.
On recruitment matter, Abubakar say although dem don approve new intake, di main wahala na training, housing and managing dem well. “To recruit easy, but if we carry people wey we no fit train or manage, e go bring bigger problem,” e warn.
