CNS Ogalla and His Exploits on War Against Oil Theft

By Toby Prince

Nigeria’s vast maritime frontier stretches an impressive 84,000 nautical miles, rivalling a third of its landmass. With over 3,000 lakes and rivers, this complex terrain demands bold leadership.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recognised this challenge, appointing Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla as Chief of Naval Staff in June 2023. A seasoned navigator, Ogalla embodies the determination, discipline, and vision needed to harness Nigeria’s maritime potential.

Ogalla took over office on June 23, 2023, with a bold vision to transform Nigeria’s maritime security and blue economy. His comprehensive strategy, the Total Spectrum Maritime Strategy (TSMS), tackles maritime crimes and promotes economic growth.

With his vast knowledge of the maritime domain and tactical operations, Ogalla outlined a detailed agenda to combat maritime crimes and foster the growth and development of the blue economy. This agenda includes the designation of Special Courts for Maritime Crimes, Advocacy Campaigns to enlist community support, and Socioeconomic Crime Prevention Strategies.

The TSMS also focuses on enhancing naval capabilities through fleet renewal, operational readiness, and infrastructural development. Additionally, it prioritizes human capital development through personnel welfare and motivation, manpower training, and youth and sports development.

To ensure effective implementation, Ogalla’s strategy emphasizes maritime stakeholders’ engagement and interagency cooperation. By implementing these measures, the CNS aims to safeguard Nigeria’s maritime interests, promote economic growth, and enhance regional stability.

A strong believer in a highly motivated professional naval force which is capable of shaping the security outcomes within Nigeria’s maritime domain and the littorals, including land-based engagements in fulfilment of national interest, CNS Emmanuel Ogalla also, set in various measures and alternatives aimed at maintaining and equipping a professionally competent and ethical naval force, which will leverage on all the elements of national powers to effectively defend Nigeria’s maritime area against all forms of threat so as to deliver the imperatives of national security.

Consequently, to prove that all these are not about mere sloganeering and banters without effective actions, the CNS carried out various reforms and projects aimed at recapitalizing the Naval ship.

This led to the equipping of the Naval Shipyard Limited, saddled with the responsibility of constructing and fabricating small boats, big vessels and other facilities of the Navy.

This move has in no small measure reduced capital flight and enhanced, as well as encouraged the training and development of skilled manpower.

As part of his commitment and dedication to the welfare of his personnel, Vice Admiral Ogalla on several occasions personally undertook the inspection of his troops for an on-the-spot assessment of their operational readiness.

Those visits also served as a morale booster and helped to motivate the personnel.

His efficiency and effectiveness in the deployment and utilization of the Naval personnel, platforms, helicopters, and UAVs for surveillance and interdiction operations throughout the Niger Delta including the employment of both kinetics and non-kinetic measures have also led to massive and unprecedented breakthroughs and successes being recorded by the Nigeria Navy on the protection of the nation’s territorial waters, such that massive quantities of stolen products were recovered, with the dismantling of illegal refining sites, arrest of suspects, seizure of stolen products, and the disruption of oil thieves and vandals.

Consequently, with three months of intense operation of Operation DELTA SANITY; which is his brainchild, the Nigeria Navy recorded the seizure of 95 wooden boats, deactivated 119 storage tank refining ovens, and the deactivation of 447 dugout pits. The Navy also deactivated 120 illegal refining sites and sized 13 fibre boats.

Other achievements and successes recorded include the seizure of 9 vehicles and the arrest of 14 vessels and 74 criminal suspects.

Some of the arrested vessels include MT KALI, MT HABOUR SPIRIT, MT SAISNIL, MV TOKITO, MT VINILLARIS, and MT SWEET MIRI.

It is instrumental to note that, these operations have consequentially impacted climate change in the mitigation of hazardous air pollution and the curbing of sooth.

Through a policy of effective and deliberate human capacity development, as an ingredient for a highly professional and motivated workforce, he has entrenched a highly motivated professional and ethical naval force with a formidable capacity and the required competencies to defend the Country’s maritime space against threats of any kind.

A strong believer in collaboration as a key to success and sustainability, the CNS partners with agencies such as NIMASA, NPA, NDLEA, NOSDRA, and NEMA, as well as many foreign partners, including holding Bilateral meetings and talks with the American chief of Naval Service, Operation (CNO).

This extensive work has brought about trust, confidence building, synergy and operational successes. The Total Spectrum Strategy has led to the Zero Piracy Rating Status of Nigeria by the International Maritime Bureau.

Through his commitment to the ideals of the Tinubu Presidency, the Nigerian Navy has supported land operations in all the geopolitical zones of the country, winning the war against evil and ensuring a crime-free Nigeria.

The Nigeria Navy under his watch, through the strategy of Maritime Domain Awareness Capacity, not only ensured the compliance of its personnel to civility, and activated deterrent measures to curb negligence and unprofessional conduct of personnel but also provided all year-round situation awareness of Nigeria’s maritime domain extending to the limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone.

Through the use of its Maritime Domain Awareness Facilities, the Navy has enhanced early detection and swift response to incidences within the maritime environment.

With the capitalization of 2 XSeaward Defense Boats (SDB); constructed locally, the various Platforms, thereby ensuring and supporting its anti-piracy, anti-CoT, anti-IUU and anti-illegal drugs, combined with the acquisition of 2nd Offshore Survey Vessels, 2 by 32m FPBs and helicopters (NNS CHALAWA, P196-Seaward Defense Boat, NNS ZUR P195 – Seaward Defense Boat and NNS OCHUZOR Survey Vessels and the delivery of 2 by 76m OPVs from Turkey, the Nigeria Navy remains the most dominant in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) and the 4th largest in Africa.

Presently, under Vice Admiral Ogalla, the Nigerian Navy has over 50 capital ships and several hundreds of boats to cover the maritime space and internal waters. While the capital ships are used to patrol the sea, the small vessels carry out routine patrols also.

His non-kinetic approach has brokered several peace initiatives amongst communities and deepened community-military harmony within Nigeria’s Oil/Gas littoral area.

Not leaving out the welfare of the personnel, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, has also demonstrated leadership and empathy by ensuring the construction of 50 units of 3 bedrooms, 128 units of 2 bedrooms and 120 units of 2 bedrooms apartments in Galadimawa, Asokoro Abuja, Lagos, Calabar and Port-Harcourt.

With an eye on sustainability, intellectual development and research, the Chief of Naval Staff on the 1st of June, 2024 launched the International Maritime Institute (IMION), an institution which will serve as a confluence for maritime discourse, the scintillation of ideas, and a vehicle for the articulation of maritime strategy on the African Continent.

With the launch of this crowning glory, the CNS intends to decimate, with a single shot, an institution which will also serve as a think-tank for maritime strategic thinkers, practitioners and allies with a far-reaching benefit of enhancing effective interaction, idea sharing and research into maritime strategic affairs affecting not only the Gulf of Guinea but the rest of the world, in such thematic areas as, maritime and ocean governance, maritime security, law enforcement, hydrography, blue economy, and climate change amongst others.

Under Ogalla’s visionary leadership, Nigeria’s war against oil theft has witnessed unprecedented success. His bold strategies, collaborative approach, and commitment to personnel welfare have transformed the Nigerian Navy into a formidable force. The Total Spectrum Maritime Strategy has yielded remarkable results, significantly boosting national security and contributing to global maritime stability. Ogalla’s efforts have solidified his legacy as a champion of maritime security and economic growth, earning the confidence of Nigerians and international partners alike.

Prince wrote this piece from Abuja.