The Chief of Defence Policy and Plans (CDPP), Air Vice Marshal Charles Oghomwen, on Monday, 20 July 2020, led a delegation of female Generals from the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) to Headquarters Nigerian Air Force (HQ NAF) on a condolence visit to the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, and the NAF family.
The visit of the female generals, according to the statement released by the Director of Public Relations and Information Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, was over the demise of late Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile, the NAF’s first female combat helicopter pilot, who died on 14 July 2020.
Air Commodore Daramola in his statement on Tuesday, said the female generals were received by the NAF Chief of Administration, Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Idris, who led the team to the NAF Memorial Arcade where they laid wreaths and signed the condolence register.
The CDPP, while signing the register, wrote: “A life worth living depends on how much you mean to those left behind. You were a Pacesetter. So many looked up to you. It is painful Tolu”.
The female Generals on the visit were: Brigadier General Florence Gyang, the Deputy Director Public Health; Brigadier General Faosat Ariori, Deputy Director Profession Allied Medicine; Commodore Mary Adetola, Deputy Director Medical and Logistics; Commodore Aderonke Bello, Deputy Director Nursing; and Brigadier General Christiana Thomas, Gender Adviser to the Chief of Defence Staff.
In a similar development, a delegation of female officers from the Nigerian Navy, led by the Director of Legal Services, Naval Headquarters (NHQ), Commodore Jas Malafa, paid a condolence visit to the CAS and indeed the entire NAF family for the untimely death of late Flying Officer Tolulope Arotile. In the condolence register, she wrote: “You came and made your mark. You made us proud. May your soul rest in peace”, the Air Commodore added.