Meet Blessing Liman, Nigerian’s First Female Captain In Presidential Fleet

Blessing Liman, (39) is the first female captain, and one of the Nigerian military personnel of the Nigerian Air Force in the presidential air fleet.

Blessing who was enlisted into the Nigerian Air Force in July and was commissioned on 9th December, 2011 hails from Zango Kataf, Kaduna.

She was on the SP-24A set of pilots and they were referred to as the Knight of the Air.

She was commissioned as a Combat Flying officer alongside 126 others who finished the direct short service course 2010/2011 Cadets of the 325 Ground Training Group at the Nigerian Air Force Base, Kaduna.

Vice president, Yemi Osinbajo recently hailed her in commemoration of International Woman’s Day.

He shared photos of himself and Liman with the caption, “This afternoon, I had the pleasure of being flown by Captain Blessing Liman, who shattered the glass ceiling in 2011 making history as the first female pilot in the Nigerian Air Force.

“I had a conversation with Blessing in her cockpit after the flight and I am delighted to note that Blessing is now one of five female pilots in the Nigerian Air Force and one of two that fly the President and I. Blessing is now also the first female captain in the Presidential Air-fleet.

“Capt. Liman and the five other female pilots are great examples of what is possible when we are intentional about providing equal opportunities for women everywhere. And all speak to “Gender Equality in Roles” – the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day.

“Women make up half of our population in Nigeria, but today discriminatory practices and old thinking mean that a significant percentage of half our population, possibly the smarter half(!) is not contributing as much as they can to our national prosperity. We can change that story. Happy International Women’s day.”