Ahoy Nigerian Navy!

The first day of the sixth month of the year means a lot to the Nigerian Navy. On June 1, 1956, what is today acronymed NN came on board. So in the armed forces, the Navy stands comfortably in the middle, flanked by the Army and the Air force. Twenty four hours ago, the seas roared and seamen cheered as the Nigerian Navy clocked 59. Historically, it could be argued that the colonial masters carried out sea operations along the Nigerian coast in the late nineteenth century.

However, it was not until the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates in 1914, that the Marine department sprang up. And that branch of the imperial government saw action during the First World War against German occupied Cameroun. It was from the Marine department, that the first batch of officers who formed the Nigerian Navy came. In fact, the first head of the navy, Captain William Skutil, was seconded from that branch although he was in the Royal Navy before service in the Marine department. His successor, Commodore A.R. Kennedy, was also a Briton. At that time, it was the Nigerian Naval Force. The name did not change when Kennedy assumed office in 1958 but the following year, it became the Royal Nigerian Navy. That name stood until 1963 as the country became a Republic.

That was when the new nomenclature Nigerian Navy was adopted. The first Nigerian to head the Navy, Captain Joseph Edet Akinwale Wey was also seconded from the Marine Department, like his British predecessors. He joined as a Sub- lieutenant after working in the Marine as a technician. Wey was known more as a very good footballer who received national team invitation playing for the Marine team of Lagos. A hard tackling left full back, he was as humorous as his tackles. The defender, was Chief of Naval Staff, from 1964 to January 1973. And it is to his credit that he served under his junior, Lt.Col. Yakubu Gowon, in the uncertain days following the assassination of Gen. Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi, in the counter coup of July 29, 1966. Among the officers remaining in Nigeria, he was the most senior as Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe left for the United Kingdom.

The history of the Nigerian Navy cannot be told without giving so much space to Rear Admiral Nelson Bossman Soroh. He is regarded as the first professional to head the service, what the soldiers would refer to as combatant. That is not the only plus attached to that name. Soroh remains the first West African Naval Cadet officer, the equivalent of Nigeria Army’s Col. Wellington Umoh Bassey, popularly called West Africa One. The Ijaw man was the first Nigerian to command a warship, having taking over control of HMNS KADUNA, from Lt. Commander Watting, in December, 1960. The tall credentials are not over yet. Soroh stands out as the first black African to control a warship from Europe to Africa, following the arrival in Lagos, of HMNS OGOJA, on September 27, 1963, three days before Nigeria earned the status of a Republic. He was the first to command the Flagship NN NIGERIA, later NNS OBUMA. Soroh was sacked by the Murtala Mohammed regime on July 29, 1975. His successor, Michael Ayinde Adelanwa, is well known for his strides in development, especially the emergence of Navy Town, Lagos.

Credit must be given to the Navy for its role during the Civil War. It is to the pride of the Navy that officers on both sides gave a brave account of themselves. Adelanwa’s successor as CNS, Akin Aduwo, commanded the flagship that moved Col. Benjamin Adekunle and some of his Third Marine Commandos to Bonny and Port-Harcourt. One of the young officers on that warship, Suleiman Seidu, would later turn out to be the shortest serving CNS. It is also to the credit of the Nigerian spirit, that another young officer who began the war on the Biafran side, Alison Amechi Madueke, also rose to lead the Nigerian navy. And it is on record that the Biafran CNS, Captain Willy Anuku also fought the war on the ground commanding soldiers, after the fall of Oguta. Anuku was, of course, trained by the Nigerian Navy. The Navy has taken part in several peace operations and even skirmishes.

The huge role it played in Liberia and Sierra Leone helped in bringing sanity to those countries. But today, the service cannot be said to be in the best of shapes. Budgetary allocations, most times are focused on the Army. It would not be a surprise if the Navy is not receiving the best, in terms of financing. From three commands in the 1980s to six today, the Nigerian Navy should be competing with the best, at least, among the so called Third world nations. The new commands added to Naval headquarters, Lagos, the Western Naval Command, Apapa, Eastern Naval Command, Calabar, are Central Command, Brass Island, Naval Training Command [NAVTRAC] and the Logistics Command Oghara. With insurgency tasking our military ingenuity, we believe that more needs to be done for the Navy.

It is a shame that some ratings cannot swim and some ships have to be towed to the harbour, during military ceremonies. As we salute the Nigerian Navy at 59, we demand a better equipped and motivated service, highly professionalised. We do not want the story of the navy to be told to the Marines or the sea Navy. Onward together, with other arms of the Armed Forces, we can bravely shout Ahoy seamen!