Nigeria as a nation, mourn the death of its first female combat pilot, Tolulope Arotile. She died in a motor accident in Kaduna State.

She was born on the 13th of December, 1995, in Kaduna State to Mr/Mrs Akintunde Arotile. According to her father, the officer was passionate about the military since she was a kid.

She attended Air Force Primary School, Kaduna (2000 – 2005), Air Force Secondary School, Kaduna (2006- 2011).

Thereafter, Tolu gained admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, as a member of 64 Regular Course on September 22, 2012, where she graduated with honours in Mathematics.

Late Arotile graduated as one of the best flight students from the NAF Academy at 22 years old.

Apparently, her grades qualified her for the helicopter training she received in South Africa. She came out tops with a commercial pilot licence.

Thereafter, Tolu went to Italy for training on the Agusta 109 Power Attack Helicopter.

On the 6th of February, she introduced the newly acquired Agusta 109 Power Attack Helicopter to Buhari during a ceremony to induct the copter into NAF fleet. The occasion held at the Eagle Square Abuja.

Tolu was brilliant and a fabulous team player. She helped to wage vicious battles against terrorists and armed bandits in various operations in Northwest.

Speaking in an interview on the 15th of October 2019, Arotile said: “I joined the military simply out of a passion for it.

“Being military personnel has been a long time ambition, the carriage and what it stands for are simply exceptional.

“Throughout my training, I have always looked towards flying. So, in the fifth year during our training we were selected for the Basic Flying Training, we were five cadets at the NAF Base Kaduna.

“So, we started flying there. We completed the ab-intio flying course in 2016/2017, then after a year, I proceeded to South Africa for training. The journey has been very interesting and nice.

“Now, I have about 460 hours of flight within 14 months with the helicopter and the major thing I have come to realise in my field is that there is just no break in my career, you just have to keep pushing and doing your best,” she said.

“My advice to younger ones out there is that they should keep doing their best, they should keep running the race until they finish and they should not set a limit for themselves because the only limit they have is the one they set for themselves.”

Arotile died in a motor accident. According to reports, she was hit by an old schoolmate who who reversing to greet her.