The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS),
General Abayomi Olonisakin, has commended the Nigerian Air Force (NAF)
for its continued delivery of credible Air Power in the North East and
other parts of the country as well as across the West African
Sub-Region. The CDS gave this commendation yesterday, 14 August 2018,
during the Logistics Command (LC) Air Logistics Support Simulation
Exercise (SIMEX) held at 631 Aircraft Maintenance Depot (631 ACMD),
Lagos. The SIMEX dubbed “OMO OLOJA”, meaning "the Trader" or "Peddler of
Goods", was designed on a scenario based on the need to provide rapid
airlift of humanitarian relief materials to a fictitious nation of 37
provinces which had been devastated by natural disaster.
In
his keynote address, the CDS, who was Guest of Honour at the event,
expressed delight to flag-off such a significant exercise because of the
importance of logistics to the successful conduct of contemporary
military operations. “Without logistics, success cannot be guaranteed.
You may plan the most audacious battle, manned by the most highly
skilled personnel with the most advanced weapon systems; but if you
don’t have ordinary drinking water for the troops, or lack the capacity
to move men and materiel to the right place at the right time; all may
come to nothing. That is why it is often said that ‘if you don’t have
logistics you don’t have anything”, he said. Speaking further, General
Olonisakin lauded the NAF for its robust human capacity building
initiatives which had enabled the Service perform its constitutional
roles creditably. He also commended the CAS for organizing the SIMEX
which, he said, would further build NAF’s capacity to provide efficient
and timely logistics support for the effective conduct of operations of
the Nigerian Armed Forces. The CDS also seized the opportunity to thank
the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari,
for making the modernization, re-equipping and continuous training of
the Nigerian Armed Forces a top priority.
In
his opening remarks, the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal
Sadique Abubakar, stressed the importance of Air Power in modern warfare
not only in offensive and defensive roles but also in collection of
credible and timely intelligence as well as the swift and efficient
airlift of forces within and across theatres of operation. He noted
that the security challenges currently facing the country and the West
African Sub-Region would continue to make Air Power imperative for the
effective discharge of Nigeria’s obligations in ensuring sub-regional
stability, as demonstrated during the Gambian crisis. The CAS described
air logistics support as one of NAF's core functions that would continue
to make this possible. He added that it had become crystal clear that
without air logistics support, it was virtually impossible to
successfully prosecute modern warfare. Accordingly, the CAS said the NAF
would continue to conduct realistic, practical and functional training
exercises, like Exercise OMO OLOJA, to ensure it was fully prepared to
provide necessary logistics support to meet national security
imperatives as well as in support of humanitarian relief operations in
aid to Civil Authority. The CAS ended by thanking the CDS for reviewing
the SIMEX and providing guidance for its effective conduct.
Earlier
in his welcome address, the Air Officer Commanding LC (AOC LC), Air
Vice Marshal (AVM) Remigius Ekeh, stated that Exercise OMO OLOJA was
aimed at practicing participants in the conduct of a medium scale
airlift operation with a view to enhancing coordination between
operations, logistics and aircraft engineering staff for the effective
and efficient execution of air logistics operations. AVM Ekeh also
disclosed that similar training exercises would be conducted by other
NAF Commands in line with their core functions. He thanked the CAS for
choosing LC as the vanguard of these series of training exercises across
the Service.
The
SIMEX also featured briefings from the Exercise Director and Heads of
the various Cells who gave details of their various roles in
facilitating the movement of a total of 400,000 lbs of relief materials
using designated aircraft and ground transportation. Highlight of the
event was the loading and airlift of some consignments of relief
materials by the C-130H heavy airlift aircraft
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