Nigerian Air force Ranks and Salary Structure 2023 (Official)

The Nigerian Air force salary structure is a classified information you would hardly find on the internet. How much the Air-force pays its officers monthly according to the various ranks in the Nigerian Air-force varies from what the Navy and the Nigerian Army pays.

While some argue that the Nigerian Navy pays the highest salary in the military, it should be note that the salary of the Nigerian Air Force personnel is paid according to their ranks from the highest to the lowest ranks and there are benefits or allowances for officers in the Airforce.

Before we go into details, lets discuss about the Nigerian Airforce and what the organization is all about.

It was after the country participated in peace keeping missions in Congo and Tanzania that the Nigerian Airforce was founded in 1961. The importance of having a national airforce to airlift troops in the course of these peacekeeping operations prompted this.

By 1962 and 1964, the process of legalizing the Nigerian Airforce by the Nigerian Parliament started. Eventually, the organization was legally formed to ensure that the maintenance of the integrity of the airspace was controlled while fulfilling other air power related tasks as expected of the national defence outfit.

Although, the first batch of cadets recorded in 1962 were 10 in number, they obtained their training with the Ethiopian Airforce. By 1963, 6 were sent out to receive their training by the Royal Canadian Airforce.

Later on, the Nigerian Government began to train these recruits within the country using the services of the German Airforce to train these cadets.

A few years later, their training paid off as they were actively involved during the Nigerian Civil war which occurred between 1967 and 1970.

Below are the major aims and objectives of the Nigerian Airforce:

• To give the country the deserved prestige that is invaluable in international matters.
• To provide close support for the ground-based and sea borne forces in all phases of operations and to ensure the territorial integrity of a united Nigeria.
• To ensure a fast versatile mobility of the Armed Forces.
• To achieve a full complement of the military defence system of the Federal Republic of Nigeria both in the air and on the ground.

The last 45 years, the NAF has recorded many positives and achievements especially in its involvement in operations to defend the Nigerian territory. From lifting troops via air, logistics supply, and thug combat operations including peace keeping missions.

As usual, there is also an active collaboration with the Nigerian Army and the aviation sector, to provide low-level air defence for airports around the country.

Listed below are the international peace-keeping operations achievements recorded by the NAF:

• the ECOMOG Operations in Liberia,
• the peace keeping mission in Lebanon from 1978 to 1982,
• the UN Military Observer Group (UNIMOG) in Yugoslavia in 1988,
• the OAU peace-keeping Operations in Chad in 1983
• the peace-keeping engagement in Sierra Leone and
• the UNISOM Operations in Somalia and Rwanda.

Nigerian Airforce Salary Structure 2023

The new salaries of the Nigerian Air Force is based on the Consolidate Armed Forces Salary Structure (CONAFSS) as with all other arms of the Nigerian Military. The Nigerian Air Force Airmen and Airwomen earn good salaries also, but not as high as the commissioned officers especially those who are graduates with B.sc and other university degrees.

Based on the information we gathered, below are the Nigerian Airforce ranks and their salary structure in a month

Non-commissioned officers:

• Trainee earns N10,237 monthly
• Aircraftman woman is paid N53,892 monthly
• Lance Corporal is paid N55,832 monthly
• Corporal collects N58,634 monthly
• Sergeant collects N69,261 monthly
• Flight Sergeant earns N87,119 monthly salary
• Warrant Officer is paid N101,974 monthly salary
• Master Warrant Officer collects N165,697 monthly
• Cadet (Trainee) is paid N44,564 monthly salary
• Air Warrant Officer salary is N171,793 monthly

Commissioned Officers:

• Pilot Officer salary is N187,159 monthly
• Flying Officer salary is N218,400 monthly
• Flight Lieutenant earns N232,484 as monthly salary
• Squadron Leader is paid N248,004 monthly
• Wing Comdr earns N342,586 monthly salary
• Group Captain earns N352,631 monthly
• Air Commodore collects N677,895 as monthly salary
• Air Vice-Marshal is paid N1,376,343 as monthly salary
• Air Marshal is paid N1,486,451 as monthly salary
• Air Chief Marshal earns N1,724,283 monthly

Full List of Command Centres of The Nigerian Air Force

The Nigerian Air Force has six command centres where operations are carried out and they include:

• Tactical Air Command headquartered in Makurdi, Benue State.
• Special Operations Command headquartered in Bauchi, Bauchi State.
• Mobility Command headquartered in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
• Air Training Command headquartered in Kaduna, Kaduna State.
• Ground Training Command headquartered in Enugu, Enugu State.
• Logistics Command headquartered in Lagos, Lagos State.

The Tactical Air Command located in Benue state was formed to provide instructions for the NAF air tactical forces. This aids in centralizing the NAF Command activities. The Special Operations Command was established to ensure that combat support are provided where necessary. The Mobility Command on the other hand was established for air power role functions ranging from tactical and strategic airlifting services, supporting other joint military operations in combating threat, etc.

The function of the Air Training and Ground Training Command is to coordinate the administrative and operational command of the training activities of the NIgerian Air Force, while the Logistics Command sees to the supply and maintainance of all NAF operational equipment and facilities to accomplish the sole purpose of the NAF.

Full List of Nigerian Air Force Bases & Locations

The bases of the Nigerian Air Force are scattered all over different states in the country. Below are the locations of all Nigerian Airforce bases currently:

• NAF Abuja base, found within Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja
• NAF Kaduna base, located at the old Kaduna Airport
• NAF Port Harcourt base, located in Rivers State
• NAF Benin base, located in Edo State
• NAF Maiduguri base, located in Borno State from where air attack operations against Boko Haram are launched from.
• NAF Minna base, located within Minna Airport of Niger State
• NAF Makurdi base, located at Makurdi Airport in Benue State
• NAF Kano base, located within Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport of Kano State
• NAF Enugu base, located within Akanu Ibiam International Airport of Enugu State
• NAF Jos base, located in Plateau State
• NAF Ipetu-Ijesha base, located in Osun State
• NAF Shasha base, located in Lagos State
• NAF Kanji base, located in Niger State
• NAF Katsina base, located in Katsina State
• NAF Yola base, located in Adamawa State
• NAF Mando base, located in Kaduna State
• NAF Unguwan base, located in Kaduna State

Nigerian Air Force Ranks

The ranks for the Nigerian Air Force are divided into commissioned and non-commissioned officers. The commissioned officers are mostly graduates while the non-commissioned officers are junior ranks and are not graduates.

Ranks of NAF Commissioned Officers

The ranks of the Nigerian Air Force for commissioned officers are 11 in number, starting from the highest to the lowest rank, below are the ranks for NAF commissioned officers:

• Marshal of the Nigerian Air Force
• Air Chief Marshal
• Air Marshal
• Air Vice-Marshal
• Air Commodore
• Group Captain
• Wing Commander
• Squadron Leader
• Flight Lieutenant
• Flying Officer
• Pilot Officer

Ranks of NAF Non-Commissioned Officers

From the highest rank to the lowest rank, below are the 9 ranks for non-commissioned officers in the Nigerian Airforce:

• Air Warrant Officer
• Master Warrant Officer
• Warrant Officer
• Flight Sergeant
• Sergeant
• Corporal
• Lance-Corporal
• Aircraftman
• Recruit

NB: Since no man is an island of knowledge, we believe that these figures of the new Nigerian Airforce salary should be for informative purposes. If any of the ranks or figures are not correct please help point it out with proof so we will effect it as soon as we verify such proof.