Deploying air wings in biosecurity: the Nigerian Air Force’s crisis management response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT Across the world, governments attempted to mitigate the effects of the crisis posed by the COVID-19 global pandemic following its outbreak. In some instances, these efforts have involved deploying the military in the enforcement of containment measures. Previous research has explored the role of the Nigerian military in internal security and crisis management; however, a gap exists in by way of the absence of organised research that unpacks the use of air capabilities in mitigating a biosecurity threat such as COVID-19 within Nigeria’s territory. This study attempts to fill this gap by interrogating the early crisis management response of the Nigerian Air Force to the COVID-19 pandemic within Nigeria, through an examination of its security-based approach. Drawing on secondary sources of data, this qualitative study, argues that the early crisis management response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the Air Force provided a much-needed intervention towards saving human lives, given the biosecurity threat and inherent weaknesses in Nigeria’s healthcare system.