The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, has stressed the need for effective strategic leadership to sustain the operational effectiveness, institutional performance and long-term relevance of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
Aneke made the remarks on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at the Strategic Leadership and Management Workshop and Induction Ceremony held at the NAF Headquarters, Abuja.
He said the increasingly complex security environment, characterised by uncertainty, rapid technological advancement and evolving threats, required leaders capable of anticipating challenges, assessing risks, optimising resources and making sound decisions with long-term implications.
The CAS said strategic leadership must go beyond addressing immediate operational demands to effectively translating available resources and capabilities into meaningful operational effects, in line with the NAF Command Philosophy’s key driver of “Standardised Training and Mission-Focused Capability Development.”
According to him, the workshop was designed to strengthen senior officers’ competencies in strategic leadership, organisational effectiveness, policy formulation, governance, decision-making and resource management.
He charged participants to interrogate established practices, engage meaningfully with facilitators and translate lessons from the programme into practical improvements across their commands and formations.
Aneke stressed that officers of air rank had a responsibility to strengthen institutional performance, promote innovation, develop subordinates and ensure that decisions taken today contributed to the NAF’s long-term effectiveness.
He also highlighted the induction of eligible participants as Full Members of the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria, Chartered, describing the professional qualification as valuable in strengthening competencies required for 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 enhance the professional development of participants and contribute to stronger institutional and operational capacity within the NAF.
He described leadership development as a force multiplier, noting that operational effectiveness depended not only on platforms, equipment and personnel, but also on the quality of leadership, decision-making, resource management and innovation required to translate capabilities into decisive airpower effects.
Earlier, the President/Chairman-in-Council of the Institute, Mr Alex Ndudi Enebeli, FSM, represented by the immediate past President, Dr Otive Igbuzor, FSM, welcomed participants and underscored the importance of strategic management and leadership in improving organisational performance.
Igbuzor said the collaboration with the NAF would enhance the capacity of senior officers to make sound decisions, optimise resources and drive institutional effectiveness.
