Colonel Shittu A. Alao belonged to the generation of Nigerian officers who served during the difficult years when the country was still shaping its post independence institutions. His name is remembered in the history of the Nigerian Air Force because he rose to leadership at a time when the service was young, still developing its structure, and already facing the pressure of war.
The Nigerian Air Force was formally established in April 1964 after Nigeria’s earlier military experiences showed the need for an air arm of its own. During peacekeeping operations in Congo and Tanganyika, Nigerian troops had depended on foreign aircraft for movement and support. That experience helped persuade the Nigerian government that the country needed an air force that could serve its own military and national interests.
When Alao became one of the early Nigerian officers connected with the Air Force, the service was still heavily dependent on foreign training and technical support. Germany played a major role in its early development, while Nigerian officers were gradually prepared to take over command responsibility. Alao’s career must therefore be understood not only as a personal military story, but also as part of the wider Nigerianisation of the Air Force.
Early Life and Military Background
Colonel Shittu A. Alao was born in Dorowa Babuje, in present day Plateau State. Later accounts commonly place his birth around 1937 and describe him as a young officer whose career rose quickly during a demanding period in Nigeria’s military history.
EXPLORE NOW: Biographies & Cultural Icons of Nigeria
Alao began his career in the Nigerian Army before becoming connected with the Air Force. He was among four Nigerian Army officers first seconded to the Nigerian Air Force to help prepare Nigerians to take over command from German personnel. This secondment was important because the Air Force needed Nigerian officers who could understand its structure, operations and future direction.
In 1963, Alao was sent to Germany for a one year indoctrination course in air force training. That training placed him among the officers being prepared for leadership in a service that Nigeria had only recently decided to build. After returning from Germany, he served as Senior Air Operations Officer at Headquarters Nigerian Air Force.
Taking Command During Civil War
Alao took over leadership of the Nigerian Air Force from Brigadier George T. Kurubo on 5 August 1967. This was a critical moment in Nigerian history. The Nigerian Civil War had begun, and the Air Force was expected to operate in conditions far beyond what a young and developing service would normally face.
The Nigerian Air Force’s former chiefs record places Alao’s tenure from 1967 to 1969, after Brigadier Kurubo and before Brigadier Emmanuel E. Ikwue. He is remembered as the fourth Commander or head of the Nigerian Air Force and one of the early Nigerian officers who helped shape the service during its formative years.
His leadership came when the Air Force was still building morale, discipline, training capacity and operational confidence. His period in command fell within one of the most trying stages of the service’s early history. He was credited with helping to strengthen morale among officers during the Civil War and with taking part in wartime air operations.
The Weight of Command
Alao’s command was significant because he led a service that was young in age but already expected to perform like a mature military institution. The Nigerian Air Force had been created only a few years earlier, yet the Civil War placed immediate pressure on its officers, pilots, aircraft and command systems.
His tenure reflected the challenge of building while fighting. There were questions of training, aircraft availability, morale, foreign technical influence and Nigerian command authority. Alao’s place in this history comes from the fact that he stood at the point where foreign supported beginnings were giving way to Nigerian leadership.
For Nigeria, the Air Force was becoming more than a new branch of the military. It was becoming a symbol of national control over the air, military mobility and wartime strategy. Alao’s leadership therefore belonged to a larger national story, one in which Nigeria was trying to hold together its institutions under the strain of conflict.
The Fatal Flight of 1969
Colonel Shittu A. Alao died while still in active service. He was flying solo in an L 29 aircraft in the south western part of the country when he encountered bad weather. The aircraft later ran out of fuel, and Alao attempted an emergency landing. During that attempt, the aircraft struck a tree and he died.
Later accounts give the date of the crash as 15 October 1969 and place it at Uzebba, near Benin. These accounts also state that he was about 32 years old at the time of his death. His death became one of the early tragedies in the history of Nigerian military aviation, especially because it happened while he was still leading the Air Force.
The circumstances of the crash have remained part of his story because they connect his death directly to the risks of military flying. He died not outside his field of service, but in the air, during the same kind of risk bearing military life that defined his command.
Succession After His Death
After Alao’s death, Brigadier Emmanuel E. Ikwue succeeded him in command of the Nigerian Air Force. Ikwue took over command on 19 December 1969 and later became important in the institutional development of the Air Force.
Ikwue is recorded as the fifth Commander of the Nigerian Air Force and the first officer officially designated as Chief of the Air Staff. This made the transition from Alao to Ikwue an important moment in the naming and structure of the Air Force’s top command.
EXPLORE NOW: Military Era & Coups in Nigeria
Legacy of Shittu Alao
Colonel Shittu A. Alao’s legacy rests on three major historical points. First, he was one of the Nigerian officers involved in the early transfer of Air Force leadership from foreign supported foundations to Nigerian command. Second, he led the Nigerian Air Force during the Civil War, when the service was still young but already under heavy operational pressure. Third, he died while on active duty in a flying accident, making his short career one of the most dramatic in the early history of the Nigerian Air Force.
His story is one of service, responsibility and sacrifice. He represents the generation that built Nigerian military institutions under conditions of uncertainty, limited resources and national crisis. Though his command lasted only from 1967 to 1969, it came at a time when the Nigerian Air Force was being tested by war and forced to mature quickly.
Author’s Note
Shittu Alao’s life reminds readers that institutions are often built by people whose names later appear only briefly in official records, yet whose service carried the weight of history. He led the Nigerian Air Force when it was still young, still learning and already at war. His death in flight made his story tragic, but his importance lies in the responsibility he carried at a difficult moment in Nigeria’s military development. Remembering him carefully means honouring a young commander whose service helped shape the early story of Nigerian air power.
References
Nigerian Air Force, official profile of Colonel S. A. Alao.
Nigerian Air Force, official profile of Brigadier E. E. Ikwue.
Nigerian Air Force, official history of the Nigerian Air Force.
TheCable, “Joseph Akahan, Shittu Alao, Azazi: Service chiefs who died in air crash,” 22 May 2021.
BusinessDay, “Nigeria loses 3rd military chief of staff to air crash in 52 years,” 2021.
