The Naval War College Nigeria graduated 25 officers from the Command Level Officers Course on Friday 5 February 2021. The officers were the third set of graduands from the capstone course since the inception of the College in 2017. Amongst the graduands is the first female officer to attend the Command Level Officers Course Lieutenant Commander Eseoghene Godspower. The Course is aimed at enhancing effective leadership and management among middle level cadre officers of Lieutenant Commander and Commander ranks and it focuses on subject areas such as emotional intelligence, self-awareness, ethics, communication skills, teamwork, command climate and leadership.

The erstwhile Commandant NWCN Rear Admiral AO Ayobanjo in his welcome address enjoined the participants to use the knowledge gained on the Course to uphold the vision of the Chief of the Naval Staff Rear Admiral AZ Gambo which is to leverage on all factors of national location, technology, training, teamwork and synergy to re-energize the Nigerian Navy and enhance her as a well motivated and ready naval force in the discharge of her constitutional mandate and other assigned tasks in fulfillment of national security objectives.

The Special Guest of Honour Rear Admiral Perry Onwezulike in his speech reminded the graduands that Nigeria’s maritime domain is still beset with plethora of illegalities and threats that affect the overall security of Nigeria and thus their skillful exercise of command and leadership especially at the tactical level of operations is required to address the current challenges. He also stated that the Nigerian Navy is engaged in various operations to curtail myriads of security challenges including piracy, anti-crude oil theft, banditry, kidnapping and the insurgency in the North East. He therefore reminded the graduands that they would be required to partake in addressing these challenges based on their training. The special guest of honour commended the erstwhile Commandant of the College Rear Admiral AO Ayobanjo and the College community for upholding the core values of the Nigerian Navy which is teamwork, integrity and professionalism.

Some pictures of the graduation ceremony are shown below.

The Naval War College Nigeria on Friday 27 Nov 20 graduated 21 officers from the Naval Warfare Course 4. The officer’s were made up of 2 from the Nigerian Army, 18 from the Nigerian Navy and one from the Nigerian Airforce. The graduates are the 4th set since the inception of the College in 2017.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony held at the Vice Admiral UO Jibrin Auditorium Eastern Naval Command in Calabar. The Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd) charged the Graduands to be more innovative and explore contemporary ways and means to tackle the changing nature of warfare, which poses new challenges to security forces. The Minister who was represented by the erstwhile Chief of Defence Staff, General AG Olonisakin (rtd) commended the erstwhile Commandant of the College Rear Admiral AO Ayobanjo, the Faculty Members and the Administrative Staff of Naval War College Nigeria for their dedication and tireless efforts towards training the Graduands. He also commended the erstwhile Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral IE Ibas(rtd) for his sustained efforts in taking the Nigerian Navy to an enviable level of professionalism.

Earlier, the erstwhile Commandant Naval War College Nigeria (NWCN), Rear Admiral Adeseye Oke Ayobanjo commended Governor Wike for hosting the Team. He said the theme of the visit is: “Curbing Pipeline Vandalism Towards Enhancing Socio-Economic Development in Rivers State”. In choosing to carry out this Study Tour, we recognize that the Rivers State Government and other security agencies have been doing so much to curb the menace of pipeline vandalism. The Commandant also stated that the purpose of the tour was to consolidate theoretical knowledge gained from the series of lectures on National Security and Organization of Defence Module which is a major package of the NWC Curriculum. The Team was made up of the Commandant, Directing Staffs and 21 participants of NWC 4. Some of the places toured by the participants includes: NNS PATHFINDER, 6 Division Nigerian Army, NSCDC and NDDC amongst others.

Some pictures from the state tour are shown below.

He said when personal interest supersedes national interest, the operation will fail and the personal interest will invariably fail because it is always temporary. “When you get to your units after your training, look for other agencies and form a synergy as no one agency can ensure maritime security alone. If we have an improved Maritime Domain Awareness, there will be reduced maritime crimes,” the FOC said.

Similarly, in his address, R Adm AO Ayobanjo, the erstwhile Commandant NWCN, said the objective of the Seminar was to harness the expertise of respective maritime agencies through cooperation in combating maritime insecurity. According to the erstwhile Commandant, the maritime environment was the ‘life blood’ of Nigeria’s economy, conveying over 85 per cent of the total volume of the nation’s international trade as well as a store house of living and non-living resources harnessed by the nation. While the protection of the nation’s maritime environment has been provided by the Nigerian Navy in collaboration with other maritime agencies, some undesirable elements sometimes undermine this effort through crude oil theft, piracy, marine pollution and smuggling among others. Combating these attendant maritime security challenges in Nigeria’s maritime environment is a shared responsibility between the Nigerian Navy and other maritime agencies; it is in recognition of this that the Seminar was organised.

R Adm Stanford Enoch (Rtd), the Guest Speaker, opined that this Seminar would provide answers to address the collaboration deficits in the use of Maritime Domain Awareness systems to combat maritime security challenges in the nation’s maritime environment. The guest speaker who delivered a lecture titled “Maritime Domain Awareness: A Prerequisite for Curbing Smuggling Activities in Nigeria’s Maritime Environment”, said no nation would close its eyes and allow criminality thrive within its waterways. He also added that to check smuggling, there must be a centralized coordination and national policy on Maritime Domain Awareness that clearly defines concept of operations, command and control, information interchange as well as intercept capabilities.

The aim of Command level Officers course (CLC 3) is to develop senior naval leaders and equivalents from other services as operational level commanders with thorough appreciation of complex national security problems, who are prepared to make sound decisions in the applications of maritime force as a policy option. The CLC 3 was inaugurated on 10 January 2020 at the central lecture hall and the guest speaker for the ceremony was the pioneer Commandant of Naval War College Nigeria Rear Admiral TC Udofia (Rtd). The CLC 3 is made up of 22 participants of the rank of Cdr and Lt Cdr. The inaugural lecture is titled “Developing the Next Generation of Naval Leaders / Commanders.” The duration of the course is from 8 – 31 January 2020.

The erstwhile Commandant of NWCN, Rear Admiral Adeseye Oke Ayobanjo said this when he and his delegation paid a courtesy call on Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State to formally announce the relocation of the College from Rivers State to Cross River permanently.

The erstwhile commandant described the current security situation in Nigeria as asymmetric, complex and frightening, stressing that with the supports from the Cross River State government and others, the College can be able to help check it.

According to him, the security situation goes beyond the normal military solution of going to war but that it calls for harnessing the contributions of local authorities, state government, traditional and civil organisations.

He said the College, established in 2017 in Rivers State, trains senior level naval officers from Nigeria, and that many are now being admitted from other countries thereby making the state which hosts array of other military facilities a beehive of naval activities.

He said they have approved military courses, all aimed to enhance and better equip naval officers on warfare, adding that it is the highest naval training institution yet. The erstwhile commandant hoped that the relationship they have enjoyed in the state as host of many naval institutions, will only get better.

Responding, Governor Ayade called for practical presence of the College in the state, assuring them of the state government desired supports whenever such are called for.

He expressed happiness for the relocation of the College to its permanent site in the state which would allow the state and its people to benefit much from it.

He called for better equipping of Naval War College to be practical seen to be a War College.

He called on the College to use its presence in the state to help curb maritime crimes, kidnapping and piracy which had threatened maritime businesses in recent times.

He alerted that the state will soon seek contractual security for the expatriates that would soon flood the state to work on the signature projects, Bakassi deep seaport and the superhighway.