In the early years after independence, Nigeria faced the enormous task of building national institutions strong enough to defend a new republic. The country had inherited an army with colonial roots, but it did not yet have a fully developed air force of its own. By the mid-1960s, that gap had become impossible to ignore.
The Nigerian Air Force was not born out of colonial inheritance. It was a deliberate post-independence project shaped by Nigeria’s experience in international peacekeeping, the ambition of the First Republic, and the urgent need to modernise national defence. At the centre of that early story were Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, German military advisers, and the gradual movement from foreign-assisted command to indigenous leadership.
Why Nigeria Needed an Air Force
The idea of creating an air force for Nigeria gained strength after Nigeria’s participation in peacekeeping operations in Congo and Tanganyika, now Tanzania. During those operations, Nigerian troops had to depend on foreign aircraft for airlift to and from the theatres of operation. For a newly independent country trying to define its military and diplomatic standing, that dependence exposed a major weakness.
The Nigerian Government recognised that a modern defence system required air capability. An air force would give the armed forces faster mobility, provide support for ground and sea operations, strengthen territorial defence, and enhance Nigeria’s international standing.
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By early 1962, the Federal Government had agreed in principle that the Nigerian Air Force should be established. Parliament approved the project, and recruitment of cadets began in June 1962. The NAF was formally established by an Act of Parliament in April 1964.
This timeline matters because the Nigerian Air Force was not created suddenly in 1965, nor was it simply handed down from Britain. It was a planned Nigerian institution, built after independence, but one that required foreign training and technical support in its earliest years.
Training the First Nigerian Cadets
Before Nigeria could operate an air force, it needed pilots, technicians, engineers, instructors and administrators. The country did not yet have enough trained manpower in these areas, so the government began seeking help from friendly countries.
The first batch of Nigerian cadets was sent to Ethiopia in 1962 for training with the Ethiopian Air Force. A second group of cadets was enlisted in February 1963 for training with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Other cadets were also sent to the Indian Air Force.
These overseas training arrangements formed the first stage of Nigeria’s air power development. They also showed the government’s intention to train Nigerians who would eventually take over the institution. Foreign assistance was not meant to replace Nigerian control permanently. It was a bridge towards self-reliance.
Germany’s Role in the Early Nigerian Air Force
Germany became central to the local training and organisation of the new Nigerian Air Force. After discussions with several countries, the German Air Force was chosen to provide technical assistance for the training of NAF personnel in Nigeria. This assistance materialised in 1963 through the German Air Force Assistance Group, known as GAFAG.
The German mission helped lay the early foundation of the NAF. Its role covered training, technical development and early organisational support. Nigeria remained the sovereign authority behind the project, while German officers and instructors supplied technical experience that the young service still lacked.
This was common among many newly independent states in the 1960s. Countries that lacked specialised technical capacity often relied on foreign advisers while training local officers to take over. Nigeria’s case followed that pattern, but the transition from foreign-assisted command to indigenous command came quickly.
Colonel Gerhard Kahtz and the First Command
The first commander of the Nigerian Air Force was Colonel Gerhard Kahtz of the German Air Force. He became the first Chief of the Air Staff, officially designated Commander of the NAF, during the early German-assisted phase.
Kahtz’s appointment reflected the technical dependence of the new air force at birth. Nigeria had the political will and legal authority to establish the service, but it needed experienced personnel to help shape the institution. Under Kahtz, the NAF began to acquire its early aircraft and organise its training structure.
His role is sometimes overlooked in popular retellings, especially when attention is placed on Wolfgang Thimmig. But Kahtz stood at the beginning of the formal German-assisted command phase before Thimmig succeeded him.
Wolfgang Thimmig and the Balewa Connection
Wolfgang Thimmig, listed in Nigerian Air Force records as Colonel W. Timming, became the second Commander of the Nigerian Air Force on 23 November 1965. He took over from Colonel Kahtz and continued the work of the German Air Force Assistance Group.
Thimmig was a Second World War veteran and came to Nigeria as part of the German assistance mission. His command was brief, but it came at a crucial moment in Nigeria’s early military history. He inherited a structure already started under Kahtz and continued its development during one of the most politically tense periods in Nigeria’s First Republic.
A 1965 image commonly associated with Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Thimmig in Lagos belongs to this moment. It represents the relationship between Nigeria’s civilian government and the foreign experts helping to build one of its newest military institutions. Balewa’s government presided over the formal creation and early development of the NAF, making the air force part of a broader post-independence vision of national strength and modern statehood.
January 1966: Coup, Withdrawal and Transition
Thimmig’s command coincided with one of the most dramatic moments in Nigerian history. On 15 January 1966, Nigeria’s civilian government was overthrown in the country’s first military coup. The coup was led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and other junior officers, but they did not take power nationally. On 16 January 1966, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi assumed authority as Head of the National Military Government. His government later announced the death of Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa.
For the Nigerian Air Force, the political crisis came at the same time as the end of the German mission. Thimmig remained in command until 18 January 1966, when the German Air Force Assistance Group withdrew from Nigeria.
The next day, 19 January 1966, Brigadier George Tamunoiyowuna Kurubo became the first indigenous Commander of the Nigerian Air Force. This was a decisive moment in the Nigerianisation of the service. Kurubo was not the first commander overall, because Kahtz and Thimmig had served before him. His historical importance lies in the fact that he was the first Nigerian to command the NAF.
The Meaning of Kurubo’s Appointment
Kurubo’s appointment marked the end of the foreign-assisted command phase and the beginning of indigenous leadership in the Nigerian Air Force. It also came at a difficult time. The country had just lost its civilian government, military rule had begun, and the armed forces were entering a period of deep political involvement.
The young air force was still inexperienced. It had only been formally established in 1964 and had relied heavily on foreign expertise for its early development. Yet by January 1966, command had passed into Nigerian hands.
This transition tells an important story about state-building. Nigeria’s air force was created by Nigerian political decision, supported by foreign technical assistance, and eventually handed to indigenous command. It was a national project built through international assistance.
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Why the Story Matters
The early history of the Nigerian Air Force reveals the complexity of post-independence institution-building. Newly independent countries often had to balance sovereignty with practical dependence. Nigeria wanted modern defence capability, but it did not yet have all the trained personnel and technical structures needed to build an air force alone.
The Balewa-Thimmig moment symbolises that balance. It shows a civilian government using foreign expertise to strengthen a Nigerian institution. It also captures the final months of the First Republic, before the coup of January 1966 changed the country’s political direction.
The movement from Kahtz to Thimmig and then to Kurubo represents the wider journey of the NAF itself. Kahtz stood at the beginning of the German-assisted command structure. Thimmig represented the final phase of that assistance. Kurubo represented the arrival of Nigerian command.
Author’s Note
The early Nigerian Air Force was a product of ambition, necessity and transition. It began as a post-independence project driven by Nigeria’s need for air mobility and modern defence capability, but its first years depended heavily on German technical support. Tafawa Balewa’s government provided the political authority, German advisers helped lay the foundation, and George T. Kurubo’s appointment in January 1966 marked the beginning of indigenous command. The story shows how a young nation used foreign expertise to build an institution it intended to lead and control.
References
Nigerian Air Force, “Our History.”
Nigerian Air Force, official profile of Colonel Gerhard Kahtz.
Nigerian Air Force, official profile of Colonel W. Timming/Wolfgang Thimmig.
Nigerian Air Force, official profile of Brigadier George T. Kurubo.
Nigerian Air Force, “Former Chiefs of the Air Staff.”
Central Bank of Nigeria, biographical note on Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
United States Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXIV, Africa, Document 361.
