On Monday, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, appointed Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar as the 22nd Chief of the Air Staff.
Abubakar was born on September 11, 1970, and according to his profile, which was made public by the NAF Headquarters, he is a native of Kano State’s Shanono Local Government Area.
He joined the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on September 19, 1992, after graduating from the Nigerian Defence Academy’s Regular Course 39.
Abubakar has participated in a number of courses, including the Ab-initio and Basic Flying Training Courses at the former 301 Flying Training School in Kaduna and the Basic and Advance Airborne Courses at the Nigerian Army Infantry Centre and School in Jaji.
Additionally, he went to the Company Amphibious Operations Course at the Calabar-based Infantry Centre and School of the Nigerian Army.
Additionally, there are the Junior and Senior Command and Staff Courses at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College in Jaji and the National Defense Course at the Nasser Higher Military Academy in Cairo, Egypt.
The new CAS previously served as the Officer Commanding ‘B’ Squadron (Do 228), 81 Air Maritime Group NAF Benin; Team Leader MILOB Team Site 615 Mahagi (Ituri Brigade), United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC); and Aviation Planning Officer, MONUC Air Operations Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
He served as the 81 Air Maritime Group’s Base Services Wing’s Commanding Officer before later holding a variety of positions at the 88 Military Airlift Group in Ikeja, including Operations Officer Operational Conversion Unit, Operations Officer, Commanding Officer 21 Wing, and Group Safety Officer.
He was the Unit’s Commandant after serving as the 011 Presidential Air Fleet Fleet Operation Officer.
According to NAN, he also held the positions of Chief of Staff at Mobility Command in Yenagoa, Air Officer Commanding at Logistics Command in Ikeja, Director of Policy and Director of Operations at the Headquarters of the Nigerian Air Force in Abuja.