Counter-insurgency: Argentina seeks partnership with Nigeria
The Argentine Ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs Maria De Carmen Squeff, has expressed the willingness of Argentine Government to collaborate with the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on aircraft acquisition, training , surveillance and radar technology in the fight against insurgency and other areas.
NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, in a statement on Thursday, said the Ambassador disclosed this when she visited the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, at the Headquarters NAF, Abuja.
The Ambassador emphasised the strong desire of the Argentine government to strengthen the relationship between the two countries beyond economic and political collaborations.
She noted that Argentina, beyond being renowned for meat production and excelling in the game of football, among others, had over the years, developed significant capability in aircraft manufacturing and radar technology .
Squeff said this had helped the country to better secure its land and maritime borders whilst also contributing immensely to the successes recorded in the area of agriculture.
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She explained that the NAF could explore the opportunities inherent in Argentina to strengthen Nigeria’s capability in surveillance and radar technology to further build on the successes so far recorded in the counter-insurgency operations in the North East of the country.
In his remarks, Abubakar thanked the ambassador for offering the NAF such a great opportunity to improve on the relationship between the two countries .
He noted that the service was always ready to explore all avenues to further professionalise and build needed capacity.
Abubakar said this was the reason the NAF had invested greatly in the training of its personnel not only locally, but also abroad in countries like the United States of America, Russia, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and many others.
He said the aim was to acquire the needed skills to perform their jobs more effectively.
The air chief expressed the willingness of the service to explore the opportunities presented by Argentina.
Abubakar said he would make arrangement to send a team of NAF officers to visit Argentina manufacturing and maintenance facilities.
He said the team would also visit production plants and military training institutions, amongst other places of interest, to assess the opportunities available in Argentina.
Abubakar noted that the government of Argentina could as well send a team of experts in relevant areas of competencies to engage with NAF specialists in Nigeria.
