The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, has appealed to Gombe State Governor Muhammadu Yahaya, on provision of infrastructure to make their base in the state conducive.
Abubakar made this appeal on Saturday, during a courtesy visit to Yahaya at the old banquet hall at the Gombe State Government House.
According to Abubakar, the visit was to solicit the governor’s support, adding “so that we can more expediently operationalise and enhance facilities in the base. Any assistance will go a long way in ensuring the base is fully operationalised as quickly as possible.”
He decried lack of potable water supply, electricity and roads within their newly acquired base in Gombe.
Abubakar said, “The presence of Nigeria Air Force in Gombe State had it humble beginnings I believe in 2015, with the establishment of 175 Nigerian Air Force detachment.
“Thereafter the state graciously allocated over 230 acres of land at the Lawanti International Airport this spurred us to establish the 109 Combat Renaissance Group in 2019 to serve as hub for systems operations for Nigerian Air Force we have made progress but however, the progress has been harped by lack of infrastructure, accommodation and other facilities to support the personnel and technologically advanced platforms which we plan to deploy.”
While lamenting that the base is not connected to the national grid Abubakar hinted that “the point where we will connect from is very expensive because we need transformers, cabling.”
On his part, Yahaya promised to meet some of their requests especially in providing water, providing of structures and maintenance of strict adherence before allocation of lands close to the base.
“We thank you for being of support to the state, Gombe State will continue to support and be on your side,” Yahaya added.
