Nigeria gets first female military pilot

Blessing Liman, a 25-year-old lady from Kaduna State, has become Nigeria’s first female military pilot, news publication ThisDay reported December 12, 2011.

Blessing Liman was commissioned by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) at the weekend, along with 126 others, after completing the Direct Short Service Course 2010/11 Cadets of 325 Ground Training Group at the NAF Base in Kaduna.

An elated Blessing Liman, according to ThisDay, called on her fellow women to see her feat as a challenge for them to explore their capabilities for nation-building.

The publication cited Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar , Nigeria’s Chief of Air Staff, as saying that the successful passing out from cadet training of the first female pilot was “a very laudable achievement” to the nation.

President Goodluck Jonathan is said to have directed the Nigerian Armed Forces to produce female combatants in order to give impetus to gender equality in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

By Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor