The Nigerian Air Force has revealed that it is embarking on the mass production of Personal Protective Equipment for the use of medical personnel in its hospitals.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, disclosed this in an address at the inauguration of a 20-bed isolation centre and ultramodern swimming pool at the Nigerian Air Force Base, Bauchi.
He stated that NAF would proceed to contribute its quota towards the fight against COVID-19 by providing airlift support for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
“Today, we are here to inauguration a 20-bed isolation ward and an ultramodern, world-class Olympic standard swimming pool. These projects are geared towards further enhancing the competence of our personnel to enable them to carry on assigned tasks, especially bordering on national security in defence of our great nation.
“Let me remind you that the task of nation-building is a collective responsibility especially with the dynamics of the current security challenges facing our country. It is, therefore, our duty to continue to generate excellent combat elements that can appropriately protect the lives and properties of our citizens.
“The Olympic standard pool that will be inaugurated today is designed to ensure that trainee Special Forces personnel receive robust, well-rounded training to include watermanship skills to enable them operate effectively in marine and riverine terrains,” he said.
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He added, “The Nigerian Air Force in the recent past has contributed and will continue to contribute its own quota to the fight against COVID-19 by providing airlift in support of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control as well as embarking on the mass production of Personal Protective Equipment for its hospitals.”
Abubakar said NAF had also provided medical-grade oxygen for government hospitals from the 103 STG LOX plant in Yola and recently enrolled the Nigerian C-130 as an air ambulance that can medically evacuate 98 patients safely to locations with capable hospitals.
According to him, the construction and inauguration of the isolation ward was also a demonstration of the NAF’s resolve to ensure that hospitals were properly equipped to confront the contemporary challenges of medical practice in today’s world, especially in response to emerging infectious disease threats globally.
