Yusuf Muhammed of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) chronicles the gains and challenges of the recent transformation of the Nigeria Air Force Tactical Training Ground Kaduna to an institute of Technology.

The transformation of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Tactical Training Ground, the TTG 320, located at the NAF Base in Kaduna, to an Institute of Technology has thrown daunting challenges.

The institute, which took off as NAF Technical and Supply School (TSS) in 1977, started with the modest objective of boosting the force’s local capacity in turning out technical manpower.

Air Marshal John Yisa-Doko, the then Chief of Air Staff, who inaugurated the school, said that it became necessary to provide more training opportunities as slots for overseas training were limited. Another reason was that the overseas training was costly for a force that was cash-strapped.

Thirty years after it became operational, the school is now an institute reputed to be the first of its kind in the West African sub-region. To make for quality training, Defence Minister Yayale Ahmed says the institute has been affiliated to Cranfield University, UK.Aeronautics sources say that Cranfield is famous worldwide as a leading university in Aerospace Engineering.

‘’Going back memory lane, one can say that the founding fathers of the force had the right foresight in establishing a solid foundation which has transformed, through several stages, to an internationally recognised institute of technology,’’ he says.

With the institute’s vast facilities, Ahmed challenges the Nigerian Armed Forces to prove their relevance to nation building by deploying their diverse skills for technological development. ‘’Many commonplace technological developments and gadgets emanated from military laboratories of advanced countries of the world.

‘’It is indeed time for the Nigerian military to begin to leverage its intellectual strength for national development,’’ he says.

Delving into specifics, he says the Thermal Power course, which is one of the MSc programmes to be run by the institute, can be relevant to the electricity sector as thermal power is the country’s major energy source.

‘’When you bring your expertise into national development, the huge investments in the defence sector will be more justified,’’ he says.

Like Ahmed, many analysts say that the institute is not only laudable, but also highly desirable.

‘’I realise that running a technology intensive service like the Air Force is prohibitively expensive since virtually all the input for its sustenance has to be sourced from abroad, but Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind,’’ Elvis Sabo, a retired air force officer, says.

According to Sabo, the country must jump onto the technology train to avoid the consequences of a bleak future. Dr Sam Ande, a university lecturer on Strategic Studies, while lauding the transformation of the TSS to a defence institute, says the nation is now assured of quality air staff.

‘’Honestly, I have always been impressed with the efforts put into training of pilots and other personnel critically required in the running of a modern air force.

‘’I am optimistic that more will be attained with the institute in place,’’ Ande adds.

To prepare it for modern challenges, Ahmed says the institute will be given ‘’adequate and necessary attention’’ for it to realise its objectives.

‘’The transformation will not end with the change of name and signboard; concrete steps must be taken to transform it into a world class centre of excellence.’’

According to him, the institute will be provided with high calibre faculty, laboratories, workshops and library. For the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Paul Dike, the institute will be nurtured into a ‘’world class centre of learning and research in aerospace technology.

‘’We shall pay special attention to a dynamic atmosphere that will be responsive to developmental changes,’’he says.

Dike lists the objectives of the institute to include creating a ‘’high level maintenance capability locally for the aviation, aerospace and allied disciplines of the NAF in particular’’.

Other beneficiaries are employees of related organisations in friendly African countries.

He says the institute will expand the horizon for indigenous research and development efforts by promoting cooperation and collaboration with allied institutions and organisations.

According to him, the National Diploma and Higher National Diploma (HND) aspects of the transformation are targeted mainly at the airmen cadre. The Cranfield University’s Master’s programme will meet the needs of the officer cadre engineering graduates from the Nigerian Defence Academy.He says the postgraduate programme will start with courses in Airframe and Airframe Systems, Avionics and Propulsion.

Dike explains that the Airframe and Airframe Systems will provide students with a thorough understanding of the skills necessary for the design of flying vehicles.

He lists such designs to include Structural Design, Systems Design, Propulsion, Flight Performance and Manufacture.While the Avionics Systems option provides students with a thorough understanding of Analysis, Test and Airframe Integration, the MSc course in Thermal Propulsion provides detailed technical knowledge of Gas Turbines, Dike says.

An in-depth study of Gas Turbine Systems is relevant to the country as it is not only dominant in the field of aircraft propulsion, but also a popular option in the area of electric power. According to the MOU signed between the NAF and Cranfield University, the MSc programme will last two years and is divided into two aspects with the first year spent at the institute.

The second year, which covers the core academic work, group thesis and individual research projects, will be both at Cranfield and Nigeria under the supervision of Nigerian and Cranfield University staff. To facilitate that, the ICT laboratory of the institute has been upgraded to provide fast Internet connectivity for tele-conferencing between the university and the institute.Textbooks recommended by Cranfield University have also been provided to the institute for the smooth take-off of the programme.

According to Dike, plans are under way to provide an electronic virtual library that guaranteesworldwide access to relevant books and journals by researchers.

A major benefit of the partnership with Cranfield, he says, is the low training cost and the fact that there will be openings for more people.

For instance, under the collaboration, each MSc student will enjoy a 3,000-pound sterling bursary from the university in addition to the discount offered to the NAF.

The NAF will save a minimum of 7,000 pounds per student in tuition fees.

Besides NAF personnel, the university will also accept students from interested organisations in the aviation business. Analysts applaud the arrangement as beneficial as no Nigerian university runs programmes in the field of aerospace engineering, even at the undergraduate level.

Authorities of the institute say that it will soon begin courses which promote allied specialties such as electronics and electrical engineering. Other areas include armament engineering,supply management, computer technology and aircraft engineering. Analysts are impressed with the uniqueness of the institute as it is neither a polytechnic nor a university.To boost the credibility of its courses, the Minister of State for Education, Hajia

Aishatu Dukku, says the HND programmes run by the institute in the different fields of engineering will soon be accredited. Air Vice-Marshal Osita Obierika, the Air Officer Commanding NAF Training Command, Kaduna, gives an assurance that experimental and developmental test pilots will soon be provided. ‘’We envisage that the institution has an unmistakable potential of becoming the national resource centre in aerospace technology.

‘’We knew all along that such was only possible if it was expanded, hence the commitment to its transformation which started some 20 years ago.

‘’The strategic objective of the institute is to be a military technical institution of international repute, engaged in imparting knowledge and skill to men and women of all races, using high class facilities and multi-disciplinary approach,’’ Obierika says.

For Dr Harold Demuren, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the institute is crucial at this stage when defence forces are adopting advanced capabilities of stealth aircraft such as the F-117Nighthawk and the giant B-2 bomber. The two aircraft can evade detection by even the most sophisticated radar and surveillance equipment.

Demuren observes that military successes in the developed world are transferred easily to the civil environment and says the situation in Africa should not be different.

‘’The military has the ability to provide the highest standard of technical training for the nation’s young engineers and technicians while instilling the disciplined and structured approach to aviation demands,’’ he says.

He advises the NAF to enhance the post-retirement lives of the institute’s graduates by assisting them to gain relevant civil aviation qualifications and licences for them to quickly find jobs in civil aviation. ‘’With those civilian jobs, they can bring all the valuable skills from the air force training to the civil environment,’’ Demuren says.