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The Naval War College Nigeria (NWC) has inaugurated 22 officers drawn from the Navy, Air Force and the Army as participants for the Naval Warfare Course 6.
The senior officers were inaugurated on Friday in Calabar by the Commandant of the College, Rear Adm. Sahad Akinwande, who was represented by the Acting Commandant, Commodore Ajibola Ogunleye.
Speaking during the inauguration of the officers, the Commandant said that the College was established in May 2017.
He said that the College was established to build the capacity of selected naval officers and their equivalent in sister services at the operational level of maritime and joint warfare by developing their critical competencies.
He said that there was an increasing sophistication of maritime security challenges such as piracy, armed robbery against ships, crude oil theft, terrorism, banditary, cultism among others.
He added that such security challenges have all aggregated to expand the responsibilities of the Nigerian Navy beyond its traditional roles.
“These security challenges, which are mostly asymmetric in nature, place increasing demand on our national resources and response capacity, hence the need to continually develop the professional ability of command level officers.
“It is against this backdrop, that the NWC was structured to equip operational level officers with the requisite skill set in leadership, national security strategy, and operational art to overcome contemporary security challenges.
“I charge you participants of the NWC to take advantage of this curriculum to better equip yourselves with the needed professional acumen for the security challenges currently facing our dear nation,” he added.
Special Guest of Honour at the event, Rear Adm. Sanusi Ibrahim, said the objective of the College was to develop the professional knowledge and understanding of selected officers of the Armed Forces.
Ibrahim, noted that the NWC was aimed at developing operational level commanders who can deal decisively with the contemporary complex national security problems.
Ibrahim, was represented by Rear Adm. Gregory Oamen, Chief Staff Officer of Eastern Naval Command.
He said that such officers are prepared to make sound decisions in the application of maritime force as a policy option.
“It is pertinent to state that the contemporary security challenges in the maritime environment have expanded the navy’s traditional roles
“These roles moves from Maritime Security Operations to include inter-agency cooperation, international collaboration and large scale internal security deployments”, he said.
Guest lecturer at the event, Rear Adm. Aliyu Lawal (rtd), delivered a lecture on the topic “Understanding Operational Level Wafare: Operational Art in Perspective.
Adm. Lawal advocated for the inclusion of ‘cyber warfare studies’ in the curriculum of the NWC.
He said that cyber studies was needed in the 21st century with a view to curb all cyber attacks from a distance.
He urged the participants to see themselves as a model of operational level commanders of the armed forces.
