The evolution of the NAF of today could be broken down into 5 distinct eras – its early development (1961 – 1967), the civil war period (1967 – 1970), the post-civil war years (1970-1980), the era of consolidation (1980 – 1990) and 1990 to the present day. As pointed out in the previous Chapter, following the decision to establish the NAF, the Nigerian government approached a number of countries for assistance in training Nigerian pilots as well as assisting in the establishment of the NAF itself. Discussions were subsequently held with Canada, Germany, India and Ethiopia.
Ethiopia was the first to give a positive response when on 11 June 1962, His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Sellasie II granted the approval of 10 scholarship slots to train NAF pilots in Ethiopia. Some of the beneficiaries in this first batch who also constitute the first batch of NAF officers of air force origin were Officer Cadets DAF Onyirimba, JN Yisa-Doko, Dan Suleiman and JK Falope. The second batch of 16 who went to Canada in 1963 included Officer Cadets Aleyideino, Usman Jibrin, Danjuma Ato, George Jebak, Gbadamosi, Esho, Uwayzor, Nwosu, Ezeilo, Ukeje, Onyeji and Mohammed Suleiman among others. The third batch which was sent to India in the same year comprised Officer Cadets Olumodeji,Mustapha Amin, Halilu, Joe Bagudu, Onuora and Ahmed.
It was, however, the Germans that were more forthcoming on the issue of the establishment of the NAF and this resulted in the agreement between Nigeria and Germany for the engagement of the German Air Force Assistance Group (GAFAG) from the German Air Force (GAF). Based on this agreement, GAFAG had the responsibility of advising the Nigerian Government on training and the procurement of equipment and materials. It was also to handle the training of NAF personnel in both Nigeria and Germany, establish squadrons and wings, and supply the required equipment and training facilities.
Three signed agreements formed the basis of the pact between the NAF and GAFAG. The first, which was signed on the 19 of April 1964, provided the general framework for the establishment of the NAF and the training of its personnel. The second, which was signed a few months later (17 October 1964), tasked GAFAG with the provision of technical assistance and the procurement and maintenance of all aircraft types for the NAF. It was also to organise a spare parts replenishment programme for the aircraft. The third agreement of 6 July 1965 had to do with the training of NAF personnel in Germany, as well as the acquisition of more aircraft for the NAF.
Following the initial agreement entered into between Nigeria and the German Government in 1964, the GAFAG took on the responsibility of building up the NAF. From then till 1965, the German Air Force provided the platforms and logistics for the full take-off of the NAF and the training of its personnel, both locally and abroad. This entailed the despatch of an initial batch of 84 NAF officer cadets and recruits (pilots and technicians) to Germany on 2 August 1963, for training in flying and ground related duties. Prominent among this group were Officer Cadets IM Alfa, John Chukwu, Bayo Lawal, Ozah, Osho, Alabi, Akerele, Oyelagbe, Smith, Idi Maina, Nureini Yussuf, Bature, Ohadomere and Omene.
Indeed by May 1966, about 513 personnel had benefited from training facilities in Germany. The task of steering the infant NAF fell on the shoulders of Colonel G Kahtz who held sway from May 1963 to November 1965. Thus Colonel Kahtz became the first Commander of the NAF.
He was succeeded by Colonel W Timming who became the Air Force Chief from November 1965 to January 1966. These two were assisted by other German officers including: Major Eberhed (Senior Air Staff Officer Operations), Major Vogt (Senior Air Staff Officer Logistics), Captain Hotch (Senior Air Staff Officer Administration), Lieutenant Colonel (Dr) Kriebel (Director of Medical Services) and Major Schultz (Senior Air Traffic Control Officer). It was under this tutelage, that the nucleus of the NAF was established with the formation of the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters (HQ NAF) at the Ministry of Defence, Lagos and the NAF Tactical and Training Wing (NAFTTW) in Kaduna in 1963. While Lagos served as the administrative headquarters of the NAF, the operational base – NAFTTW, was appropriately located at a site that had served as a staging base for the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The NAFTTW comprised a Military Training School (MTS), a Light Transport and Liaison Squadron (LTLS) and support units of administration, engineering and supply. The HQ NAF and the NAFTTW, therefore, constituted the first organs in the formation of the NAF. The first commander of NAFTTW was Captain H Zumkley who was assisted by Captains Smidth and Bader. “The Base” as it was more popularly known, was primarily tasked with the conduct of basic military training for new intakes prior to their proceeding abroad for further training. It was also responsible for conversion training for the NAF pilots returning home after completing their overseas training.
Indeed, the second batch of 125 officer cadets sent to Germany, undertook a 6 month basic military training here and constituted the first set of cadets to undergo initial military training at the MTS. Among this group were Cadets U Abbas, AD Bello, Anthony Okpere, Abdulsalam Abubakar (who latter changed to the NA and subsequently became Head of State in 1998), Al- Amin Daggash, Ikpeazu, Larry Koinyan, Aliyu Maigari, Ike, Adudu and Francis Mokonogho, among others. As already indicated, the first military training course in NAFTTW started on 3 October 1963 with 125 cadets. During the 6 months military training, every cadet that was recruited undertook a flying fitness medical evaluation. Those that qualified then proceeded for flying training, while all others were assigned to various ground duties.
Worthy of mention at this juncture are the first set of NAF officer cadets to undertake the Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) and Advanced Flying Course in the United States. These were cadets from the first batch who had their initial military training at NAFTTW. The initial 4 beneficiaries were Cadets Mokonogho, Adejo, Ike and AD Bello who received a shield of honour for emerging as the best Cadet. The 4 went to the United States in May 1964 and on completion of their course, returned to Nigeria on 14 September 1965. Notably, the 4 returned home with laurels with AD Bello bagging his second medal of honour as the best overall UPT graduate while Cadet Mokonogho won the academics award. By this time, the batches sent to Canada, Ethiopia and India had returned to Nigeria with those from Ethiopia and Canada returning as commissioned officers, while those from India and the United States were presented locally before a board which considered them for commissioning in Nigeria.
After the first batch, subsequent courses were started every three months. Due to logistics problems, however, flying training did not start at the Base as anticipated until 3 November 1965 when the first 18 trainees started their training under German instructor pilots. The training consisted of continuity flying training for the young NAF pilots returning home from their primary flying training abroad. The aircraft used were the Piaggio 149D Primary Trainer and the Dornier 27 light liaison transport aircraft.
Captain H Zumkley’s tour of duty ended on 23 November 1964, and he handed over command of the Base to his compatriot Major Smidth who subsequently handed over to Major Bader, another German. Majors S Alao and TE Nzegwu also had brief spells as Commanders of NAFTTW. However, the final step towards Nigerianization were when Major Esuene was appointed as the commander of the Base in 1965 and Major Smidth made his adviser.
This heralded a reorganisation of command positions at the Base with Nigerians taking over, while the German officers became their advisers. Thus, Captain Akosa who was transferred from the Nigerian Railways Mechanical Department was appointed Officer Commanding Technical Group with Captain Krebs as his adviser, while 2nd Lieutenant JN Yisa-Doko became Officer Commanding Flying Platoon with Captain Casper as his adviser. Aware that the agreement with GAFAG had only a four year life span during which the NAF could not have nurtured and trained enough NAF officers to take over from the Germans, the Nigerian government decided to look around for supplements to understudy the German officers. It was in this quest that 4 officers from the Nigerian Army (NA) were seconded to the NAF in 1964. These were Captains S Alao, JU Esuene, EE Ikwue and DO Odiwo. Captains TE Nzeogwu and PC Obi who were then serving with the Royal Air Force were also transferred to the NAF, thus, beefing up the number to 6.
These 4 who formed the pioneer members of the NAF who had their initial military training at the Regular Officers Special Training School (ROSTS) Teshie, Accra-Ghana were immediately sent for conversion training in Germany. The conversion entailed undertaking various forms of air force oriented courses and as confirmed by Brigadier EE Ikwue (rtd) on reaching Germany, they joined the Nigerian cadets and recruits that were at that time undergoing various flight and ground related courses in Germany.
The 4 were later given on-the-job training in various establishments of the Luftwaffe in Germany during which they understudied the GAF system of administration at the GAF Headquarters, with a view to taking over command of different departments of the NAF.  Thereafter, they were subjected to flying fitness examinations to determine their suitability for flying. Captains Alao and Ikwue qualified to fly while Odiwo and Esuene who did not were assigned to ground specialties.
On return to Nigeria in late 1964, Captains Ikwue and Alao were appointed as Senior Air Officers Administration and Operations respectively, while Odiwo and Esuene became Director of Medical Services and Senior Air Staff Officer Logistics respectively with Germans assisting strictly in advisory capacities. It was at this time that Captain Ikwue established the NAF officers Service numbering system. Expatiating further on this, Ikwue explained that, he started the officers’ Service numbering from NAF/101 because NAF aircraft had already been assigned numbers between 001 and 100. He then adopted an alphabetical approach in allocating numbers to officers of the same seniority; thus, of the 4 pioneer members who started on the same pedestal, Colonel Alao became NAF/101, Brigadiers Esuene NAF/102, Odiwo NAF/104 while he got NAF/103. The NAF still maintains this  numbering system till date.
On 23 November 1965, Colonel Kahtz’s tour of duty ended and he handed over command to Colonel Timming. Colonel Timming’s tenure was, however, cut short as a result of the military coup de’tat of 15 January 1966. With the coup, the Germans abruptly, unceremoniously and unilaterally, terminated their agreement with the Nigerian government and hurriedly left the country. They explained their action with the argument that their contract was with a civilian democratic government and not a military government.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the NAF fell on the shoulders of the officers that had been earlier seconded to the NAF from the Nigerian Army. Lieutenant Colonel George Kurubo was thus appointed the first indigenous Commander of the NAF on 16 January 1966.
The departure of the Germans and the paucity of officers in the NAF at this time, led to the secondment of more officers from the NA to the NAF and further reorganisation in the NAF. It was from this stock that Major Musa Usman was appointed Commander of the Kaduna NAF Base, Major DO Odiwo was appointed Staff Officer Operations, Major RN Dumuje as Senior Air Officer Logistics while Major JA Ogunro became the Director of Medical Services. It must be said to the credit of the Germans, that by the time they left, appreciable progress had been made in the development of the NAF. Indeed as at 15 January 1966, the NAF had a staff strength of 857 made up of 32 officers, 255 cadets and 570 airmen and recruits.
As pointed out earlier, the Base had been operational since October 1963, but it was not till 2 January 1966, that it was officially commissioned by Dr. Nwafor Orizu while acting for the then Prime Minister Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Be that as it may, with the firm foundation laid by the Germans, the NAF took-off successfully, piloted by the new Nigerian leadership.