On Wednesday, 25 February 2026, the Flag Officer Commanding Special Operations Command, Rear Admiral Olusegun Olukunle Soyemi delivered a lecture titled ‘Decision Making at the Operational Level’ to the participants of Naval Warfare Course (NWC) 10 of the Naval War College Nigeria (NWCN). The lecture held at the College Auditorium was part of the Leadership and Management Studies Module for the Course. The aim of the lecture was to discuss decision-making at the operational level of warfare.
Rear Admiral OO Soyemi stated that the process of making good decisions is a long-studied art drawn from previous human experience and condensed into a number of decision-making models. He further noted that these models are ideal for less complex problems, or problems that are routine in nature, such as state-on-state armed conflict, humanitarian assistance, and force deployment. The guest speaker thereafter stated that operational level decision-making could be characterized by factors such as broad perspective, complexity, high risk, and deliberation. Others include operational thinking, and operational vision. He noted that it was imperative for operational-level commanders to develop a sound understanding of these characteristics in the face of complexity, and consciously apply the knowledge in pragmatic ways to become more effective operational-level commanders in the future.
Speaking on the attributes of a leader in operational level decision-making, the guest speaker stated that the ability to make timely and sound decisions remains the highest art of operational leadership. According to him, decisions taken by a commander reflect his personality traits, professional knowledge, and experience. He thereafter underscored the importance for military commanders to possess a good balance of important personality traits, such as strong character, personal integrity, high intellect, foresight, and sound judgement. Others include courage, mental flexibility, understanding human nature, and the ability to communicate ideas clearly and succinctly.
The Commandant NWCN, Rear Admiral MA Muye appreciated the Guest Speaker for sparing time out of his busy schedule to deliver the lecture. He thereafter urged the participants of NWC 10 to note the lessons drawn from the lecture for future applications as operational-level commanders.
