The
origin of the Nigerian Navy could be traced to the Marine Department of
the Royal Navy established in 1887 as a quasi-military organization,
which combined the duties of the present-day Nigerian Ports Authority
(NPA), the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority and the Nigerian Navy.
Elements of the Marine Department took part in military operations
against the Germans in Cameroun during the First World War between
1914–1918. However, the colonial administration did not consider it
necessary to establish a proper navy, as they believed that it was the
duty of the Royal Navy to give naval protection to Nigeria. Also, the
Marine Department was considered adequate to look after security of the
ports and coastal approaches and provide harbour services for Royal Navy
ships on West African patrols. This was the situation until the end of
the Second World War in 1945.
After
the war, the colonial administration preferred that emphasis be placed
on port-related duties for the Marine Department. A proposal was then
made to establish NPA. The officers of the Marine Department, who
belonged to Royal Navy Reserve, did not give up on the idea of a navy
and therefore continued to press for the establishment of a naval force.
The agitation for the establishment of a navy was succinctly summarized
in the words of Mr LL Olakunle, a member of Parliament in 1556. He said
“If we must have a Nigerian Navy, then we must have something along the
pattern of the British Navy”. With further pressure from our
nationalists, the colonial administration disbanded the colonial Marine
Department. Sequel to this action, 250 officers and men of the disbanded
Marine Department were put together to form the nucleus of the Nigerian
Naval Force (NNF) in April 1956. The Force was later renamed Naval
Defence Force (NDF) of Nigeria. Efforts of the Marine Department
officers eventually led to the policy statement by the Colonial
Government of Nigeria contained in the Sessional Paper No. 6 of 1956 for
the establishment of a Naval Defence Force (NDF).
On
1 June 1956, the NDF commenced operation with 11 assorted ships and
craft inherited from the erstwhile colonial Marine Department of the
Royal Navy. On 1 August 1956, the first legislation on the Navy was
passed by the House of Representatives and was assented to on 5
September 1956 by Sir James Robertson, the Governor-General of Nigeria.
It was called the Nigerian Navy Ordinance. The Ordinance re-designated
the NNDF as the Royal Nigerian Navy. Consequently, on 1 May 1958, the
NDF was legally established as a force and re-designated Royal Nigerian
Navy (RNN) as a mark of allegiance to the Queen of England.
In
1963, when Nigeria became a republic, the prefix “Royal” was dropped
and the name became the Nigerian Navy (NN). The modern day NN came into
being legally through the Act of Parliament No 21 of 1964. At inception,
the NN was statutorily required to patrol only 3 nautical miles, which
was the limit of the territorial waters. The post-independence Navy Act
of 1964, formally established the NN and removed the limitation of the
NN operations to the country’s territorial waters. However, the NN
remained with a few patrol boats without evolving significantly into a
multi-mission maritime arm of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Armed Forces Act
CAP A20 and the National Defence Policy 2006 accordingly charged the NN
with the defence of Nigeria by sea. These statutes also expanded NN
roles to cover the full spectrum of military, policing and diplomatic
functions of a modern navy. Performing these roles efficiently and
effectively entails linkage and synergy with the Nigerian Army, the
Nigerian Air Force and other relevant maritime security agencies
PRESENT STRUCTURE OF THE NIGERIAN NAVY
The
NN is currently structured into 9 Branches at the Naval Headquarters, 5
commands and a number of autonomous units. The 5 commands are made up
of 3 operational commands – Western Naval Command, Central Naval Command
and Eastern Naval Command with Headquarters located at Apapa, Yenagoa
and Calabar- as well as the Training and Logistics Commands with
Headquarters at Apapa and Oghara respectively. Each of the 5 commands is
headed by a Flag Officer of the rank of Rear Admiral. The NN autonomous
units include Naval Ordnance Depot (NOD), Naval Doctrine and Assessment
Centre (NDAC) and Navy Holdings Limited (NHL). Navy Holdings has 9
subsidiary companies. These include Naval Dockyard Limited (NDL), Naval
Shipyard Limited (NSYL), Naval Building & Construction Company
Limited (NBCCL), Navy Hotels & Suites Limited (NHSL), Navy Micro
Finance Bank Limited (NMFBL), Navy Maritime Services Limited (NMSL),
Naval Exchange (NAVEX), Naval Engineering Services Limited (NESL) and
Navy Clearing and Forwarding Services Limited (NCFSL). The autonomous
units and support facilities enable the NN to maintain the fleet and
personnel for sustained operations. The NN has also, recently,
established a Project Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation
Directorate at the NHQ for better management of NN projects.
RECENT MILESTONE
The
Nigerian Navy, on 27 December 2006, established an elite special
forces, the Special Boat Service (SBS). The SBS represents the Nigerian
Navy’s answer to the contemporary security challenges of terrorism,
insurgency, hostage taking and piracy. The SBS operatives were actively
involved in Operation PULO-SHIELD in Niger Delta, Operation SAFE HAVEN
in Plateau State, Operation RESTORE ORDER in Kano State, Operation IRON
FENCE 2 in Kogi State and Operation ZAMAN LAFIYA in the North East. The
SBS elements are currently involved in Operation LAFIA DOLE in the North
East and SAFE HAVEN in Plateau State. The NN also increased its
Regional Maritime Awareness Capability Centres (RMAC) from 7 to 10 to
monitor maritime activities more elaborately. Additionally, the maritime
domain awareness capability of the NN would be greatly enhanced with
the “FALCON EYE Project” when activated. The Project, driven by the
Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), is tailored towards
total coverage of the nation’s maritime domain. Overall, these
developments have enabled the NN to expand its surveillance coverage of
our maritime domain to check illegal activities.
The
NN is also being repositioned to meet contemporary security challenges
through the implementation of the Nigerian Navy Transformation Plan 2011
– 2020 in line with global best practices. The Plan is hinged on 8
pillars with associated lines of efforts towards the attainment of the
overall strategic end state of transforming the NN. In line with this,
the NN recently commissioned 3 Inshore Patrol Craft and one Seaward
Defence Boat to enhance naval presence in Nigeria’s territorial waters.
Fleet renewal also received a boost with the recent acquisition of US
Coast Guard Cutter GALATTIN now renamed NNS OKPABANA, which joined the
NN fleet on 2 January 2015, in addition to her sister ship NNS THUNDER
that was acquired earlier.
It
is important to note that the NN took a bold step in the local
construction of vessels with the successful construction of a Seaward
Defence Boat (SDB) named NNS ANDONI. Building on this success, the keel
for the second SDB was laid on 1 June 2012 by former President,
Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency, Dr Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan GCFR. On 18 April 2012, the NN signed a contract with a
Chinese Shipbuilding Company for the construction of 2 Offshore Patrol
Vessels (OPVs). One of the 2 OPVs, NNS CENTENARY was handed over to the
NN on 27 Nov 2014 and joined the fleet on 6 Feb 2015. Also, NNS SAGBAMA
and NNS PROSPERITY joined the fleet while the second OPV from China, NNS
UNITY joined the fleet on 4 November 2016.
Arising
from the presidential mandate to put an end to crude oil theft and all
other illegalities in Nigeria’s maritime environment, the Nigerian Navy
conducted a Fleet Evaluation Exercise from 11 – 17 November 2012. The
Exercise, code- named Exercise FARAUTA, which was conducted in the bight
of Benin and Bonny stressed the importance of jointness as it involved
elements of the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air Force. The emphasis was
on Bonny-Akassa-Escravos axis up to the limit of the offshore oil
platform of Bonga. These areas are hot spots for crude oil theft. The
boarding and searching of several vessels during the exercise led to the
interrogation of 17 vessels and arrest of several others including MT
ANDROUSSA and MT AEGEAN HORIZON for various infractions. Similar
exercises were conducted by the 3 operational commands. These were EXs
ICHUNTA, NDIKARA and SEIOTU DUOPAMO.
In
2013, the NN was involved in exercises with Economic Community of
Central African States (ECCAS), Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS) and other nations under the platform of Exercise
OBANGAME EXPRESS 2013 in Cameroon. The Exercise was primarily aimed at
deterring piracy amongst other maritime crimes prevalent in the offshore
area of Calabar. Nigeria hosted the 2014 OBANGAME EXPRESS. The
multi-national exercise was aimed at enhancing cooperation, information
sharing and prosecution of trans-border maritime crimes among
member-states of the Gulf of Guinea. Nigerian Navy also participated
actively in the 2015 edition of the Exercise that was hosted by Ghana
from 18 – 20 Mar 15 with naval ships from the United Kingdom, Spain,
Brazil, France, China and Italy.
The
NN was also engaged in joint anti-piracy operations with the Republic
of Benin Navy from 2011 until June 2014 when it was transmuted into a
multinational task force. The operation codenamed OPERATION PROSPERITY
helped to significantly reduce the menace of piracy and other criminal
activities in the common maritime border between Nigeria and Benin
Republic. Drawing from the successes of the Nigeria-Benin joint
anti-piracy operations, the NN, under the auspices of the ECOWAS
Integrated Maritime Security Strategy is involved in much more robust
operations with Republics of Benin, Togo and Niger under the
ECOWAS/ECCAS Pilot Zone E maritime security arrangement.
The
NN recently established patrol corridors to ensure complete coverage of
all the hotspots along our coastline. The corridor extends from the
coast to 50nm seaward covering Igbokoda through to Calabar River axis.
The corridor is designed for overlapping patrols by the 3 operational
commands – WNC, CNC and ENC. It is envisaged that the overlapping
patrols by the 3 commands would checkmate maritime illegalities in the
nation’s waters. Also, efforts to re-establish a functional joint
maritime air patrol mechanism with the NAF are in progress.
In
order to address contemporary maritime security challenges on a
regional scale, the NN in collaboration with the United States Office of
Security Cooperation, organised the First Gulf of Guinea Regional
Maritime Awareness Capability Conference from 27 – 31 July 2013 at the
Tinapa Lakeside Hotel Calabar. Similarly, the NN in partnership with
International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC) hosted the First
Offshore Patrol Vessels Africa Conference from 27 – 28 August 2013 at
the Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.
Nigeria’s
image received a major boost with the participation of the Nigerian
Navy Ship THUNDER in the Royal Australian Navy’s Centenary in Sydney,
Australia from 3 – 11 October 2013. NNS THUNDER’s participation in the
International Fleet Review provided an opportunity for enhanced
professionalism and diplomatic ties between both navies and countries
respectively. It also provided the desired sea training for officers and
ratings of the NN during the deployment.
The
NN also hosted a major combined exercise, nicknamed Ex AFRICAN WINDS
under the African Partnership Station Programme. The Exercise involved
training and exercises in Lagos, Calabar and Oron with elements of
Dutch, US, UK and Spanish Navies and Special Forces on the Dutch Navy
Amphibious Support Ship, the HNLMS ROTTERDAM. The trainings took place
in Lagos from 3-14 October 2013 while exercises were conducted in Lagos
from 15-18 October and Calabar and Oron from 21-24 October 2013. Some of
the recent operations conducted by the Nigerian Navy in order to ensure
maritime security include EX TREASURE GUARD (18-22 December 2015) and
EX OPIA TOHA (26-27 May 2016). Furthermore, in response to increased
piracy attacks in Nigeria’s eastern waters, the Nigerian Navy recently
emplaced a new and ongoing operations code named OPERATION TSARE TEKU.
Prior
to the commencement of the OPERATION TSARE TEKU in April 2016, there
were about 45 successful cases of piracy attacks in Nigerian waters
between January and April 2016. From April to July 2016, only 2
successful cases of piracy were recorded. Considering the success
recorded since the inception of the operation, OPERATION TSARE TEKU II
was activated on 16 Jul 16 and the area of operation extended to Bonga
Terminal. It is worthy to note that only 1 successful case and 1
unsuccessful attempt were also recorded during the second phase of the
operations between July and October 2016. Following the successful
conduct of the first and second phases of the Operation which were
launched on 25 April 2016 and 22 July 2016 respectively. OPERATION TSARE
TEKU III was launched on 20 October 2016.
The
renewed vigor in the war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism
is yielding results with the increase in the destruction of illegal
refineries, barges, and wooden boats as well as arrests of suspected oil
thieves. Between January 2014 and November 2016, NN patrols led to the
arrest of 144 vessels involved in criminal activities. Furthermore, the
NN has destroyed about 388 illegal refineries, 75 barges, 341 wooden
boats, 4,262 auxiliary equipment and arrested 202 persons in the same
period. The success of the NN’s efforts can be attested to by the fact
that between 2015 and 2016, 2,765 crude oil tankers successfully loaded a
total of 971,673, 751 metric tons of crude oil safely from Nigeria’s
maritime domain on behalf of the Federal Government without any
incidence of attack.
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