By mid-summer 1980, at the start of the Moscow Olympics, I had been on a foreign mission for three years with a group of Soviet military specialists (SMS) in Nigeria as a senior interpreter for the 10th Main Directorate of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces. That year, young independent Nigeria was only 20 years old. Nigeria's area is almost a million square kilometers; by this indicator, the country ranks 14th in Africa and 31st in the world. In terms of population, it surpasses all other African countries: the population, according to 2020 data, was 210 million people, ranking sixth in the world. It is a predominantly agricultural country with large reserves of oil, gas and other natural resources. I was stationed in the city of Kano in northern Nigeria, the second most populous after Lagos. There was a Nigerian Air Force base there, including a flying training squadron.
The need to create its own air force arose among the Nigerian leadership in 1962. The Nigerian Armed Forces participated in international operations outside the country: in 1960 – in the UN operation in the Congo and in 1964 – in the suppression of the military uprising in Tanganyika (today's Tanzania). The need to transfer troops and supplies to the conflict zone by air initially forced the Nigerian military to rely on civilian aircraft or foreign air forces. However, the Nigerian government soon became convinced of the need to create its own air force. On April 18, 1964, the Nigerian Parliament passed the Air Force Act 1964, thereby laying the foundation for a new branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
* * *
In 1967, the Ibo people's attempt to establish their own country by creating their own state, the Republic of Biafra, led to a clash with the federal center and the beginning of military operations against the rebels. In official historiography, this war is known as the "Nigerian Civil War." By the beginning of the military operations, the Nigerian Air Force, which had only existed for three years, had not yet fully developed. Initially, they were tasked with providing air communications. However, the appearance of B-26 bombers and helicopters among the rebels forced the Nigerian Air Force to reconsider its tactics. MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters were hastily purchased from the USSR and delivered to Nigeria via Egypt. Several military transport aircraft were also purchased. Nigerian aircraft began to be used for air attacks and strikes on rebel positions and civilian targets. The period of the Biafra War of 1967–1970 was characterized by a rapid growth and increase in the size of the Nigerian Air Force.
