“Congratulations for emerging a Finalist in the IPRA Golden World Awards for Excellence in PR 2020 with ‘NAF Women of War’ in the Category Crisis management.”

That was the message in an email received from Janice Hill, the Member Services Manager of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), notifying the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) of its campaign on gender balancing in the Nigerian military. The campaign had previously won the Public Sector/Government Category of African PR awards for Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation and Engagement (SABRE) initially billed to hold at the Conference of the African Public Relations Association (APRA) in Dar es salaam, Tanzania in May this year, but which was postponed due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic that had claimed much ground across the world.

The first female combat helicopter pilot in Nigeria, Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, who died in an unfortunate freak auto-accident on July 14 at the age of 24, was one of the prominent faces of the inspirational PR campaign.

Before her untimely death, Arotile’s outstanding profile and that of Kafayat Sanni, Nigeria’s first female fighter jet pilot, form part of NAF’s campaign on Women of War, in an attempt to eliminate the stereotypical notion that the military is dominated by men; and that more so women have no place in the combat operations of the armed forces.

The campaign was an initiative of the forward-looking and detribalised Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, in rebranding the service as the most reputable, humane responsive military service in the African continent. Due to it uniqueness, the campaign had won several credible laurels, including African and global awards on reputation and crisis management in Rwanda and Armenia, only last year.

While the Air Chief is not given to playing to the gallery or engaging in contrived and incredible propaganda towards political ends, he takes great delight in projecting the earned reputation of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) as a progressive institution, through the exceptional efforts and gallantry of its personnel.

Through the video and other levels of narrative, the ‘Women of War’ campaign proved that “what a man can do, a woman can do better” by depicting how female inclusiveness in the military is paying off. Apart from Arotile and Kafayat, other top female officers were interviewed in a documentary, as the campaign was towards proffering answers to questions pertaining to the roles of women in the NAF, which have been unfairly underrated and unnecessarily burdened by distorted cultural expectations.

The campaign portrays how women of war have persistently showcased fearlessness and courage as pilots, combatants, and armament specialists, among other no less significant roles. These have tremendously led to the increased participation of female personnel in combat and war support functions, especially in the fight against armed banditry and insurgency in Nigeria. No doubt, this has portrayed the NAF as a gender-sensitive and balanced military institution, which projects positive female role models in the likes of Flying Officer Arotile and others, to the great admiration of Nigerians.

The campaign has immensely boosted the morale of the female troops, who are everywhere, valiantly fighting armed banditry and terrorism in Nigeria’s North-West and North-East geopolitical zones. It has also further gingered the enlistment of female citizens into the Nigerian Air Force.

During the unveiling of the newly acquired Augusta 109 Power Attack Helicopters, it was innocent-looking and brainy Arotile who introduced the features and operation of the aircraft to President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

As such, the unprecedented outpouring of emotions, attendant upon grief and disbelief, was not surprising, following the death of the young female officer. When she was laid to rest on July 23, with full military honours, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar stated that the NAF was still in palpable shock and intense anguish over the loss of a mentee in whom the service had so much confidence. He described the late Arotile as a dedicated and goal-oriented young woman who carried out her assignments, both on the ground and in the air, with a high level of professionalism and commitment.

While reiterating how the fallen heroine had contributed immensely to the decimation of subversive elements in several anti-banditry combat missions, Air Marshal Abubakar condoled with the entire womenfolk of Nigeria, whom he said, the late Arotile had represented so creditably.

Born on December 13, 1995, Tolulope Arotile attended Air Force Primary School and Air Force Secondary School, both in Kaduna, from 2000 to 2011, before she later gained admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy as a member of the 64 Regular Course on September 22, 2012. She was commissioned into the Nigerian Air Force as a Pilot Officer on September 16, 2017, and was winged as the country’s first-ever female combat helicopter pilot on October 15, 2019, after completing her flight training in South Africa. She equally held a commercial pilot licence and had undergone tactical flying training on the Agusta 109 Power Attack Helicopter in Italy. Before her death, within short period of her commission, Arotile had attained over 400 flying hours in the service to the nation.

Truly, Arotile has left her mark in the sands of time, proving that when it comes to the attainment of excellence and value addition to society, age or gender remains a poor measure of capability, and hence should never be entertained as barriers.

While we thank the late Tolulope Arotile for fighting earnestly in protecting Nigeria’s sovereign integrity, I pray that other women of war would keep finding the courage to keep the flag of excellence flying, while never allowing their gender to constitute an hindrance to their remarkable capabilities.

Adieu patriot.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Author, Award-Winning Crisis Communication Strategies
www.YAShuaib.com

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Neither clients of plastic surgery nor make-up, their natural beauty delights the eye in their smartly dressed military wear… Though innocent looking, pure and enticing, they remain feminine, while their line of duty is the traditional masculine career of fearless and courageous souls. They are the Nigerian Women of War in the Nigerian Airforce (NAF).

This writeup is a tribute to mark the International Women’s Day by examining the roles our women are playing in national security.

NAF Women of War and Engineers fixing a fighter jet

I have met some of them on the field and they were the topic of discussion at a recent interaction with the twentieth Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, when he disclosed that the trained female air combatants, known as Women of War, are engaged in active military operations, fighting Boko Haram terrorists in North-East, combating armed bandits in North-West, and other criminal elements in other parts of Nigeria.

Since his appointment as CAS on July 13, 2015, Air Marshal Abubakar has engaged in the massive recruitment of officers, airmen and airwomen, with heavy investment in capacity building, training and retraining of personnel.

The female warriors, like their male counterparts, are not only trained locally but some of them attended the best military academies in the world. Apart from those who have returned from training and are currently active in the frontlines, one of the warriors is currently undergoing intensive training in the United States of America to become a female fighter pilot, while another is in South Africa training to become a helicopter gunship pilot.

NAF Well-Armed Women of War

The trained female personnel, like their male counterparts, have neutralised insurgents during airstrike missions, provided close air support, air interdiction, in-theatre liaison flights, casualty evacuation, as well as logistics re-supply of ammunition, water, food, and medicine. In a nutshell, they have provided tactical support for the ground troops.

Some of the female air officers fly sophisticated fighter planes and control operation rooms used in gathering intelligence, carrying out surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) activities. Apart from the pilots, a number of the women of war are also experienced ammunition loadmasters, aircraft maintenance engineers, aerospace engineers, armament specialists, squad leaders, combatants, military policewomen, and air traffic controllers, among other specialisations.

The Women of War evolved mostly from the massive recruitment and training exercises conducted in the last three years under Air Marshal Abubakar, resulting in the engagement of 7,522 young airmen/airwomen, 400 young graduate-officers, and 95 winged pilots in the Nigerian Air Force.

NAF Women of War Preparing Arms and Ammunition for a military mission

In addition to making the NAF a gender-sensitive service that encourages its personnel to explore their potentials without inhibition in the armed forces, Air Marshal Abubakar ensured that senior officers on managerial levels are trained in other fields of relevance beyond their core fields of specialisation. For instance, when he appointed AVM Adesanya and later Air Commodore Daramola as spokespersons of the force, he ensured that the officers attended specialised and advanced practical communication programmes organised by the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) and the African Public Relations Association (APRA), among other capacity-building institutions to become members of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) as required by law. Therefore, their practical PR skills, acquired through advanced training rather than academic theories, have helped the officers to reposition the service and boost its reputation to the public admiration.

NAF Women of War Preparing an aircraft for an operation

To ensure the trained and recruited personnel are engaged in relevant fields, the service has recorded remarkable achievements in the acquisition of new platforms and establishment of new operational offices across the country. The NFA’s structure has been expanded through the establishment of a Special Operations Command in Bauchi, a Ground Training Command in Enugu, and the establishment of new Regiment Groups in Gembu, Taraba State; Ipetu Ijesha, Osun State; Owerri, Imo State, and Agatu, Benue State. New Units have equally been established in Plateau, Katsina, Gombe, Zamfara State, and Nasarawa States.

It is to the credit of the CAS that NAF fleets of aircraft have recorded unprecedented growth with the purchase of 16 brand new aircrafts, the reactivation of 13 previously grounded aircrafts, the release of funds for the purchase of 12 Super Tucano aircrafts from America and five attack/utility helicopters from Italy. The NAF currently has in its arsenals Alpha Jets, Super Mushshak aircrafts, Mi-35M helicopters, gunships, Bell 412 helicopters, Tsaigunmi UAV, among others.

Air Marshal Abubakar and the writer and a journalist during an interaction on military operations

Meanwhile, apart from improving the welfare of personnel through the provision of befitting accommodation and a conducive environment, the service has expanded its Post-Service Housing Programme to address the shelter needs of officers and airmen/airwomen as they prepare for retirement.

Nigerians in host communities are also beneficiaries of the magnanimity of the Nigerian Airforce, which just completed another new 60-bed NAF Reference Hospital in the North-East and upgraded equipment at its various medical centres, while also constructing new secondary schools and adding blocks of classrooms and hostel accommodations in existing NAF schools across the country.

It was therefore not surprising that the NAF in the last three-and-a-half years under the Air Chief Sadique Abubakar has conducted medical outreaches that treated 479,921 patients as at December 2018. The NAF’s school feeding programme for over 1,000 school children has, more so, greatly contributed to the number of pupils who have returned to school in the area.

Yushau A. Shuaib
Author, An Encounter with the Spymaster
www.YAShuaib.com

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