Maritime domain susceptible to threats, trade disruptions – Naval boss
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, has noted that the maritime domain is susceptible to various forms of threats, which result in trade disruptions and increased shipping costs.
Ogalla made this known when he addressed the 24 newly graduating officers of the Naval War College Course Eight in Calabar on Friday.
The Course Eight commenced on 29 January 2024, with 17 Commanders, two Lt. Colonels, two Wing Commanders, a Captain from Guinea Bissau, and two Commanders from Ghana and Cameroon participating.
He said the susceptibility is affecting the economic prosperity of countries, adding that multidimensional security and safety initiatives are required to combat these threats.
He said, in a bid to make the nation’s maritime environment safer, the Nigerian Navy has carried out operations such as OP Calm Waters, Delta Sanity, and Tsare Teku, which have achieved remarkable successes by curbing maritime crimes.
He added that they are bolstering regional maritime security collaborative engagements under the 2013 Yaoundé Code of Conduct to curb transnational maritime crimes in the Gulf of Guinea region.
“The objective of the Naval War College is to build the capacity of operational level commanders for the conceptualization, planning, and execution of operations towards combating maritime security threats.
“It is instructive to note that the College is satisfactorily actualizing its mandate among several other initiatives,” he said.
He congratulated the participants for successfully completing the course, urging them to be good ambassadors of the college.
He also charged them to translate the knowledge gained in the course to improve operations in their respective units, establishments, and countries.
Also speaking, Rear Adm. Abdullahi Ahmed, Commandant of the Naval War College Calabar, called on the graduands to understand the operational environment and to note that the ends, means, and ways of solving any problem must rest on a solid and objective understanding of the problem,” he explained.
He also explained that the college was mandated to run various courses, principal among which was the Naval Warfare Course, in order to develop operational level commanders with an understanding of complex national security problems.
Maritime domain susceptible to threats, trade disruptions – Naval boss
