Flight Lieutenant Kafayat Sanni, Nigeria’s first female fighter pilot, has again made history by emerging as the Best Allied Student at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), Accra.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) officer also received the award for Best Assistant Commandant Paper during the college’s graduation ceremony held on Friday, in the presence of senior military officials and dignitaries from across Africa.
This was announced in a statement released on Saturday by the Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame.
Sanni, who gained national acclaim in 2019 after becoming the first female fighter pilot in the Nigerian Air Force, trained in the United States and has since flown the Alpha Jet while also serving as an instructor pilot on the Super Mushshak aircraft.
Her recent academic feat, Ejodame said, underscores her “personal excellence and resilience” and reflects Nigeria’s growing stature in regional defence cooperation, as well as the country’s commitment to promoting gender inclusion within the military.
“This remarkable achievement further reflects the Nigerian Air Force’s strategic investment in human capital development under the visionary leadership of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar,” Ejodame added.
Sanni’s accomplishment comes at a time when Nigeria is championing greater representation of women in leadership roles across sectors, including defence, where women have historically been underrepresented.
The awards cap a distinguished training period at GAFCSC, a premier military training institution in West Africa that grooms future military leaders from allied nations.