From a 250-strength, 11 assorted ships and crafts Naval Defence Force (NDF) promulgated in 1956, PRECIOUS IGBONWELUNDU reports that the Nigerian Navy (NN), despite years of neglect, has metamorphosed into a global force which asserts itself in the protection of the country’s maritime domain and the entire stretch of the Gulf of Guinea region
For many years, the Nigerian Navy (NN) had suffered neglect by successive administrations that have governed the country since independence. Although the NN, at the time it was established by the colonial government on June 1, 1956, paraded formidable assets and manpower, the tempo dropped along the line, especially between 1993 and 1999 as a result of the embargo placed on Nigeria resulting from the political instability caused by the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
The Navy was unable to import or export military equipment and this led to the deterioration of existing assets, equipment and facilities because of lack of maintenance
. Almost all warships which were used to maintain a regular presence at sea to fight criminals and defend the country from external aggression became dysfunctional.
With the return to democracy, the embargo was lifted but due to the cost of refurbishing the comatose platforms and accommodations for the personnel in relation to other government expenditure, the navy rarely had its demands met.
Successive administrations regarded the naval force as too expensive to maintain without considering the enormous resources, including crude oil, abound in the country’s vast maritime space.
The dearth of platforms to carry out its constitutional function had significant security and socio-economic consequences on the nation, especially as militants, who were destroying oil facilities and pirates holding sway on the high seas, operated without confrontation.
With the huge losses incurred by the government in crude oil theft, the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in whose watch the country built its first indigenous warship, saw the need to equip the NN for better performance.
However, the last five years of President Muhammadu Buhari has improved the naval force with regard to fleet recapitalisation, operational efficacy and personnel welfare.
On assumption of office as the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) in 2015, Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas expressed his commitment to high premium on operational availability of ships as well as training and motivation of personnel to achieve optimal performance.
With the approval of the President, the NN has acquired more capital ships and boats,, including Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) and the expected Landing Ship Tank; refurbished its maritime patrol crafts; completed the second Seaward Defence Boat (SDBs) as well as the local manufacturing of Houseboats used for the Chokepoint Management Regimes (CMR) against oil thieves and pirates; construction of standard jetties and training of competent personnel to handle the high-level equipment.
Chronicling the achievements of the NN since 2015, the Chief of Policy and Plans (CPPLANS) Rear Admiral Ifeola Mohammed at a briefing in Abuja recently said there has been an all-round improvement.
“The NN training schools are being affiliated with tertiary institutions and relevant professional schools as well as bodies in the country.
The NN also benchmarks training in line with international best practices for the enhanced maintenance and operations of the fleet. These have assisted, in no small measure, the building of further capacity and human resource development.
“As regards manpower generation and development, the NN in the last five years, inaugurated a total of 944 officers and enlisted 7,465 ratings. Currently, 1,226, who have completed basic training are scheduled to join the fleet shortly while another set comprising 1,250 trainees, will commence training at the NN Basic Training School thereafter.
“The NN has equally reinvigorated its welfare programmes to further motivate the personnel. The development and welfare of NN personnel is a core aspect of NN administration.
“Over time, the NN has sustained existing efforts and also put in place new schemes to improve personnel welfare.
“Some of the NN welfare schools have also been rehabilitated, with new schools being built at both primary and post-primary levels.
“Furthermore, the NN has set up various loan schemes to assist personnel to achieve their personal goals.
“These include the Nigerian Navy Micro-finance Bank, Nigerian Navy Multi-purpose Co-operative Society and Navy Exchange and Welfare Loans, among others.
“For housing of personnel, construction of barracks accommodation and renovation works are ongoing in all naval establishments. All these have enhanced productivity with the resultant improved operational efficiency of the NN,” he stated.
On the operational achievements of the Navy since 2015, Mohammed said the NN has participated in over 60 exercises and operations with 35 of them being game-changers in the fight against maritime firms such as piracy/sea robbery, crude oil theft, illegal oil bunkering, smuggling, Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF), insurgency, hostage-taking and human and drug trafficking, among others.
“The NN adopted the Total Spectrum Maritime Strategy (TSMS) to guide its operational engagements. The strategy is based on a proactive layered response to five conflict spectrums characterised by distances to and from the coast.
“Within the period under review, the NN acquired three capital ships. These are NNS UNITY (an OPV), a new survey vessel and a Landing Ship Tank (LST).
The survey vessel is expected to join the fleet before the end of the year while the LST would join in 2021. Furthermore, 11 River Town Class boats were acquired. Out of these, seven have been inducted into the NN fleet namely NNS NGURU, SHIRORO, EKULU, OSE, GONGOLA, CALABAR and OSUN, while four more are programmed to join the fleet later this year.
“Additionally, in the last five years, the NN also invested in local content development through the local construction of Seaward Defence Boats (SDB). The second locally built SDB, NNS KARADUWA was inaugurated in 2016 while her sister ship, a third locally built SDB, is programmed to join the service this year.
“To boost operations, 12 Manta Class boats and Inshore Patrol Craft were acquired and will be inducted into the fleet this year.
For Riverside Operations, the service took delivery of 148 River Patrol boats, with another 24 expected in the latter part of this year. Thirty-six Rigid Inflatable Boats were also procured, with another batch of 56 programmed for delivery also this year.
“The renewed emphasis on fleet renewal under the leadership of Vice- Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas was further underscored with the acquisition of three Whaler boats that are also expected to join the fleet this year.
Other acquisitions under this ambitious fleet renewal effort are the acquisition and deployment of 11 houseboats for the Choke Point Management and Control Operations.
“One houseboat is also expected to be deployed this year. One tug boat has been inducted into the service while two others are expected to join the fleet this year also. Similarly, one water barge and one fuel barge are expected later in the year.
“The NN equally committed enormous resources to equipment availability to support its operations. Accordingly, the NN took delivery of a total of 168 outboard engines with requisite spares.
As part of the Ministry of Defence’s critical intervention, the NN just took delivery of one Leonardo AW139 helicopter and it’s currently being inducted.
“In support of the Federal Government’s policy on local content, the NN engaged local companies such as Messrs Epenal, TUWASCO, HABTOB and Sewa to build platforms for the Service.
This has not only enhanced local content development but has also facilitated capacity building in Nigeria’s maritime industry,” he explained.
Expectedly, the huge investments on the Navy within this period has had its commensurate impact in the fight against criminality, especially piracy.
In response to threats posed by activities of pirates in the region, the NN instituted dedicated operations and initiatives to enhance its policing capability towards the peaceful use of the nation’s maritime environment. These initiatives have engendered several recorded successes in the operations of the bases.
From available statistics, there were 70 piracy attacks in 2016-the highest in the past five years- out of which 51 were successful.
In 2017, there were 48 piracy-related cases out of which 27 were successful; 2018 recorded 36 cases with only nine being successful while 21 piracy-related cases were recorded last year and only seven of them were successful. As of May 20, 2020 there were nine pirate attacks of which only two were successful, said Mohammed.
“It is evident that the rate of successful pirate attacks has been on the decline from 2016 to 2019. The success rate of pirate attacks which was 72.86 per cent in 2016 decreased to 56.25 per cent in 2017. However, in 2018, the success rate of pirate attacks decreased to 25 per cent.
The seven successful pirate attacks out of 21 reported piracy cases in 2019 denote a considerable reduction in reported cases of pirate attacks may be adjudged to override the percentage increase in the rate of successful pirate attacks last year.
“It is worthy to mention that in May, June, September, October and November, last year, no piracy- related incident occurred in Nigeria’s maritime space, a feat that attracted the commendation of the International Maritime Bureau. This is attributed to NN increased number of hours and sustained presence at sea.”
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