Meet the first female to be trained as a regular combatant in the Nigerian Defence Academy. Flying Officer K Sanni

Flying Officer Kafayat Sanni is the first Nigerian female Jet Fighter pilot, she was trained in the United States of America. She is the first female that went through regular combat training at the Nigerian Defence Academy to be winged for a fixed-wing fighter aircraft.

She emerged the overall best pilot at the NAF 401 Flying Training School, Kaduna State, in 2017, and thereafter, she was moved to the United States of America to train at the US Aviation Leadership Programme.

As she grabbed the first female trophy in flying Alpha Jets and others, considering the task ahead, Kafayat said: “I was just lucky to be chosen. It was also my choice. It was what I wanted to do. And I feel that everyone is not supposed to fold their arms and watch what is happening in our country. Everyone could always play their part. So, I did not think there was any reason for me to think that it is not possible for me to actually fly the jet because there was no female that ever flew the jet. I believe I could achieve it and I did.

Over the years, female combatants from the Academy have been making remarkable histories.