Flight Lieutenant Kafayat Omolara Sanni, Nigeria’s first female fighter pilot, has once again etched her name in history, this time for academic excellence.
At the graduation ceremony of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC) in Accra, Flt Lt Sanni was named Best Allied Student and also received the award for Best Assistant Commandant Paper. The ceremony, held on 20 June 2025, brought together top military officials and dignitaries from across Africa, recognising the outstanding achievements of officers from allied nations.
We first celebrated her back in 2019 when she made history as the first-ever female fighter pilot in the Nigerian Air Force, after completing her pilot training in the United States. Since then, she’s flown the Alpha Jet and led training sorties on the Super Mushshak, mentoring a new generation of NAF pilots as a seasoned instructor.
Now, she’s adding academic excellence to her growing list of achievements.
Her accomplishments at GAFCSC mark another defining chapter in a career already filled with firsts. But beyond the accolades, her journey reflects Nigeria’s growing influence in regional defence leadership, and a continued “commitment to gender inclusion in the armed forces,”; says the Nigerian Air Force.
