By Odita Sunday
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, has identified strategic leadership as a critical factor in sustaining the operational effectiveness, institutional performance and long-term relevance of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
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 the Headquarters of the Nigerian Air Force in Abuja.
The CAS said the increasingly complex security environment required military leaders capable of anticipating challenges, assessing risks, optimising resources and making sound decisions with long-term implications for the Service.
According to him, contemporary security threats are characterised by complexity, uncertainty, rapid technological advancement and evolving challenges, making it necessary for military leadership to go beyond managing immediate operational demands.
He said strategic leadership was essential to translating available resources and capabilities into meaningful operational effects, noting that this aligns with a key pillar of his Command Philosophy, “Standardised Training and Mission-Focused Capability Development.”
Aneke explained that the workshop was designed to strengthen the strategic leadership capacities of senior officers in areas including organisational effectiveness, policy formulation, governance, decision-making and resource management.
He said the training would enable senior officers to effectively manage their current responsibilities while developing the capacity to anticipate emerging threats, shape institutional responses and position the NAF for sustained operational effectiveness.
The CAS charged participants to critically examine established practices, engage actively with facilitators and apply lessons from the workshop 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 true measure of the programme would be the extent to which participants translated the knowledge acquired into practical improvements within their respective commands and formations.
He also highlighted the professional significance of the induction of eligible participants as Full Members of the Institute of Strategic Management of Nigeria, Chartered, saying 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 their collaboration, expressing confidence that the programme would contribute to the professional development of participants and enhance the institutional and operational capacity of the NAF.
He noted that the workshop reinforced the Service’s commitment to leadership development as a force multiplier, stressing that operational effectiveness depended not only on platforms, equipment and personnel, but also on the quality of leadership, decision-making, resource management and innovation.
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 improving organisational performance, noting that the collaboration with the NAF provided an important platform for strengthening the strategic leadership capabilities of senior officers.
He said the programme would equip participants with contemporary knowledge and skills needed to make sound decisions, optimise resources and drive institutional effectiveness.
The event forms part of the NAF’s continuing efforts to strengthen professional leadership, institutional capacity and mission-focused capability development in response to Nigeria’s evolving security environment.
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