Nigerian Air Force Holds Legal Officers’ Course To Enhance Service Delivery

Nigerian Air Force Holds Legal Officers’ Course To Enhance Service Delivery

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) today, 18 November 2019, commenced a 3-week Capacity Building Course geared towards keeping participants abreast of modern trends in legal practice with a view to repositioning the Directorate for effective legal service delivery. The Course, part of the human capacity building initiatives of the current NAF administration, is in tandem with the vision of the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, “to reposition the NAF into a highly professional and disciplined force through capacity building initiatives for effective, efficient and timely employment of Air Power in response to Nigeria’s national security imperatives”.

Declaring the Course open, the CAS, who was represented by the Air Secretary Headquarters (HQ) NAF, Air Vice Marshal Mamud Ahmed, while reiterating the important role of the DLS plays in providing sound legal advise towards the realization of NAF objectives, stated that the Course was deliberately tailored to give young NAF lawyers a good start, thereby equipping them to effectively and efficiently discharge their duties. He said the Service recognized the enormous potentials in the personnel and the need to activate them by stirring up their latent abilities and inspiring them to see new possibilities. According to him, the current NAF administration believes that the future of the NAF, like the future of Nigeria, lies in the hands of vibrant and extremely gifted young officers. This, he said, informed the NAF Leadership’s unrelenting commitment towards building the capacity of personnel to enable them face current and emerging challenges within the domestic and global security landscape. “It is in recognition of their importance and the need to equip our lawyers to effectively and efficiently discharge their duties that this Capacity Building Course is organized”, he said. He therefore urged the participants to see the training as an expression of the confidence the Service reposes in them.

Also speaking during the event, the Chief of Administration HQ NAF, Air Vice Marshal Kingsley Lar, stated that the course was being conducted pursuant to one of the NAF’s core values, which is “Excellence in all we do”. He noted that this culture of excellence had continued to drive NAF personnel towards self-improvement as well as the unflinching commitment to take new frontiers. “As a Service, we understand that the world does not stop for anyone to catch up. It therefore behooves on us to keep up with the rest of the world. It is in keeping with this cherished culture that the first Key Driver of the Vision of the CAS is “human capacity development through robust and result oriented training for enhanced professional performance”, he added. He therefore seized the opportunity to thank the CAS for providing the enabling environment and strategic leadership that allowed such capacity building initiatives to thrive. The COA highlighted that the resource persons for the Course had been carefully selected to ensure that participants derive maximum benefit from the engagement. He therefore encouraged the participants to take advantage of the opportunity and draw from their wealth of knowledge and experience.

Earlier in his address, the Director of Legal Services, HQ NAF Group Captain Sanda-Jika, disclosed that the Directorate has thrived under the pragmatic leadership and guidance of the CAS. He explained that the Workshop was designed to deal with a wide range of subject matters in both military and civil law. “The Course will also examine other aspects of operational law, human rights, public procurement and international commercial law. Participants will also have a full week to simulate and practice some of the lessons learned during the course. I am therefore confident that the course will yield the desired result of increased knowledge and enhanced performance”, he said.

On the first day of the three-week programme, 2 papers were delivered by erudite scholars. The first paper was on “Human Rights in Conflict Situation”, delivered by Professor Yemi Akinseye while the second lecture was delivered by the Director of Legal Services, Group Captain Sanda-Jika titled “General Provisions of Armed Forces Act CAP A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN 2004) as Amended”. Several other distinguished resource persons have been lined up to address different subject areas during the 3-week Course.