The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening strategic leadership and mission-focused capability development as key drivers of operational effectiveness and long-term institutional performance.
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, stated this on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, while delivering the keynote address at the Strategic Leadership and Management Workshop and Induction Ceremony held at Headquarters Nigerian Air Force, Abuja.
According to an official statement signed by the Director of Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, the CAS said the increasingly complex security environment requires leaders capable of anticipating challenges, assessing risks, optimising resources and making sound decisions with long-term implications for the Service.
Aneke noted that the contemporary security environment is characterised by complexity, uncertainty, rapid technological advancement and evolving threats, stressing that military leadership must transcend the management of immediate operational demands.
“Strategic leadership is central to ensuring that available resources and capabilities are effectively translated into meaningful operational effects,” the CAS said.
He explained that the workshop was designed to strengthen the capacity of senior officers in strategic leadership, organisational effectiveness, policy formulation, governance, decision-making and resource management.
The CAS said the initiative aligns with a key driver of his Command Philosophy, “Standardised Training and Mission-Focused Capability Development,” which prioritises the continuous development of the intellectual, professional and leadership capacities of NAF personnel.
He charged participants to interrogate established practices, engage meaningfully with facilitators and relate the lessons from the programme to the realities of managing a complex military organisation.
“Officers of air rank have an important responsibility to strengthen institutional performance, foster innovation, develop their subordinates and ensure that decisions taken today contribute to the long-term effectiveness of the Service,” he said.
Aneke stressed that the success of the workshop would ultimately depend on participants’ ability to translate the knowledge acquired into practical improvements within their respective commands and formations.
He also highlighted the professional significance of inducting eligible participants as Full Members of the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria, Chartered, noting that the initiative would provide professional recognition in strategic management while strengthening competencies relevant to senior military leadership and institutional governance.
The CAS commended the organisers and the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria for the collaboration, expressing confidence that the programme would contribute to the professional development of participants and strengthen the NAF’s institutional and operational capacity.
He noted that leadership development remained a force multiplier, emphasising that operational effectiveness depends not only on platforms, equipment and personnel but also on the quality of leadership, decision-making, resource management and innovation that translate those capabilities into decisive airpower effects.
Earlier, the President/Chairman-in-Council of the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria, Mr Alex Ndudi Enebeli, FSM, represented by the immediate past President of the Institute, Dr Otive Igbuzor, FSM, welcomed participants to the programme.
Enebeli emphasised the importance of strategic management and leadership in strengthening organisational performance, noting that the collaboration with the NAF provided an important platform for enhancing the strategic leadership capabilities of senior officers.
He said the programme would equip participants with contemporary knowledge and skills required to make sound decisions, optimise resources and drive institutional effectiveness.
