Naval War College Nigeria (NWCN) on Friday graduated 21 participants from the Nigerian Navy after a 3 week intensive leadership and management training. The officers were the fourth set of graduands from the capstone course since the inception of the College in 2017.  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.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony the special Guest of Honour Rear Admiral Ibrahim Dewu, The Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command charge the participants to be ready to take up responsibility that would challenge and test he knowledge and skills you have acquire in the College. He therefore urged them to brace up to the challenges and prove their mettle as worthy ambassadors of the Naval War College.

The Acting Commandant of the College, Commodore Abolade Ogunleye said the course was geared towards enhancing effectiveness in Command, leadership and management of the graduates. He noted that in the past three weeks that the course lasted, that the participants have been made to focus on self-awareness, ethics, communication skills and contemporary approach to management of men, material and resources. He said: “I am therefore convinced that you the graduate have imbibed these noble objectives and will be more effective in the discharge of Command responsibilities at the tactical and operational levels

Naval Warfare Course 5 Graduation Ceremony

The Naval War College Nigeria on Friday 19 Nov 21 graduated 22 officers from the Naval Warfare Course 5. The officer’s were made up of 2 from the Nigerian Army, 18 from the Nigerian Navy and 2 from the Nigerian Airforce. The graduates are the 5th set since the inception of the College in 2017.
The participants were urged to bring to bear what they have been taught during the course for the benefit of Nigeria’s Security Environment. The Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen Bashir Magashi (Rtd) was presented by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, charged the participants to situate themselves in the complexities environment. The Minister also commended the Commandant of the College Rear Admiral MM Bashir, the Faculty Members and the Administrative Staff of Naval War College Nigeria for their dedication and tireless efforts towards training the Graduands. The Commandant of the college, Real Admiral Murtala Bashir in his welcome address said since the establishment of the College in 2017, that the College has chummed out officers from the 3 Services. Adding that the College is designed to be a centre of excellence in Naval and joint military training and maritime security studies in the sub-region. He said “The graduates are now finished product ready to be deployed into the field to contribute their quota toward providing security in the country”.

A total of 22 participants of Naval Warfare Course (NWC) 5 were formally inaugurated by the Commandant Rear Admiral Murtala Mormoni Bashir on 9 April 2021. The Course comprised of 18 naval officers, 2 officers from the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air Force respectively. The Commandant, in his address urged the Participants of the NWC 5 to take advantage of the robust curriculum so as to better equip themselves with the right professional knowledge and skills needed to tackle the various security challenges currently facing the nation which they will be deployed to manage. This is in line with the mission of the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) which is “to optimize the deployment of the Nigerian Navy in the performance of her constitutional roles and the undertaking of the assigned tasks while promptly responding with commensurate actions to other emerging national security challenges”. Therefore, the Commandant formally inaugurated the participants into Naval Warfare Course 5.

In the same vein, the CNS Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo _AM ably represented by the Flag officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command Rear Admiral Sanusi Kashim Ibrahim in his welcome address tasked Participants to note that their Inauguration coincides with the beginning of a new era in the Nigerian Navy and as professional officers, they must quickly key into the CNS Vision which is “to leverage on all factors of national location, technology, training, team work and enhance her as a well-motivated and ready naval force in the discharge of her constitutional mandates in fulfillment of national security objectives” he also further reminded the Participants that it has becomes necessary that they are trained to understand the contemporary security environment towards the realization of the CNS vision by thinking outside the box in order to develop workable strategies. The CNS also reminded that the Naval Warfare Course was conceived to develop intellectual, cognitive and analytic ability to enable them articulate enduring polices and strategies  that would address our current and emerging security challenges. He further urged the participants to take the Course seriously, learn as much as they can so as to derive maximum benefit from the rich, robust and highly educative course content. Some pictures of the ceremony are shown below.

Rear Admiral Murtala Mormoni Bashir is the New Commandant Naval War College Nigeria (NWCN), sequel to the recent appointment of senior officers in the Nigerian Navy. He took over from Rear Admiral Adeseyi Oke Ayobanjo who has been appointed to Naval Headquarters Abuja. The Handing and Taking over Ceremony took place on 22 March 2021. In line with NWCN tradition, part of the activities for the handing and taking ceremony include valedictory address, formal signing of the handing and taking over notes between the outgoing and the incoming commandants and handing over of NWCN Insignia.

The outgoing Commandant Rear Admiral Adeseyi Oke Ayobanjo in his farewell address to the College narrated his ability to realise the institutional mandate of the college in the areas of conducting the Naval Warfare Course, Command Level Officers’ Courses, the sustainment of strategic training partnership with institutions such as NDC, British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT) & selected university in Nigeria. Other areas were enabling access to the HQ NAVTRAC  e-Library to enrich the scope of participants research effort. He also seized the opportunity to appreciate Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Awwal Zubair Gambo for profound leadership. He also thanked the past and present members of faculty, officers, ratings and civilian staff of NWCN for their untiring efforts towards realising the College’s mandate during his tour of duty. He further implored the NWCN community to extend their commitment and support to the incoming Commandant.

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Some pictures of the graduation ceremony are shown below.