The attention of the Naval Headquarters has been drawn to an online caption at guardian.ng titled “Our navy`s NNS absurdity” written by Dare Babarinsa on 9 September 2021. The writer lamented profusely and finds it absurd that a navy base is being established in Kano. The writer stated clearly that “the reason for this naval base is not clear”. It is pertinent to state that the Navy Base in Kano is meant for the establishment of the Nigerian Navy Logistics College. In the real sense, anaval base is a securely held seaport used as a centre of operation by the navy. Nevertheless, naval bases could be built for operations, training, logistics or administration.
In the Nigerian Navy, there are 3 operational Commands which are: Western Naval Command with Headquarters in Lagos, Eastern Naval Command with Headquarters in Calabar and Central Naval Command with the Headquarters in Yenagoa.
There are 2 other Commands, namely; Naval Training Command and Logistics Command. While the Headquarters of Naval Training Command is in Lagos, that of Logistics Command is in Oghara.
However, the Naval Training Command has professional schools under it located in various parts of the country. In Lagos area, we have Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) QUORRA, Nigerian Navy Centre for Education and Training Technology (NNCETT) as well as Joint Maritime Security Training Centre, amongst others.
There are many other schools located outside Lagos. Some of these include Nigerian Navy School of Armament Technology in Kachia, Kaduna State, Nigerian Navy College of Health Sciences, Offa, Kwara State, Nigerian Navy Finance and Logistics College, Owerrinta, Abia State as well as Nigerian Navy Hydrographic School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
It is pertinent to state that these schools are also referred to as naval bases and in the naval parlance as stone frigates since they are all naval establishments and units. As a matter of fact, military formations are called bases or barracks all over the world.
The Nigerian Navy is indeed expanding. Accordingly, the Navy Board recently approved the establishment of 3 new naval bases in Lekki, Ogutaand Kano. Unfortunately, the proposed Navyestablishment in Kano has generated much debates and commentaries. The Naval Base in Kano is meant for the newly created Nigerian Navy Logistics College while the Nigerian Navy Finance College would be retained in Owerrinta.
Additionally, the Base is also meant to house Nigerian Navy primary and secondary schools. Wherever naval personnel are serving, it becomes necessary to have hostel accommodation for staff and students, hospitals or medical centres, primary and secondary schools for the wards of the personnel and people in the environs. Additionally, naval units such as naval police and intelligence would be required to be domiciled in such base. It could also be used as a training ground for the NN Special Forces in the immediate future.
The Nigerian Navy has also proposed the Nigerian Navy Communication and Information School to beestablished in Ile-Ife, Osun State. The structure of this school is already constructed in Ile-Ife. That is also a naval base. It would be recalled that the Command Naval Drafting was relocated to Lokoja, Kogi State in January 2019, while the Nigerian Navy School of Music has been in Ota, Ogun State since July 1991. In the same vein, the Nigerian Navy provost and Regulating School is located in Makurdi, Benue State.
The Naval Base Lake Chad is also in existence in Baga, Borno State. As evident from above, the Nigerian Navy has schools spread across the country. Nigeria is not the only country that has naval presence on land. There are landlocked cities/countries with navies around the world.
A landlocked navy is a naval force operated by a country that does not have a coastline. While such country is not able to develop a sea-going blue-water navy, it can deploy armed forces on major lakes or rivers. Landlocked countries that have navies today include Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Central African Republic, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Laos, Paraguay, Rwanda, as well as Uganda amongst others.
In the USA, the Naval Construction Battalion Centre is located in Mississippi, the Naval Air Station Fallon is in Nevada, the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic Detachment LaMoure is in North Dakota while the Navy Information Operations Command – Sugar Grove is in West Virginia. All these states in the USA are landlocked. In the United Kingdom, Her Majesty Ship (HMS) DRYAD and COLLINGWOOD are located on land not on the coast. In Germany, the Logistikschule der Bundeswehr (The Logistics School of the German Armed Forces) is located in Garlstedt, a landlocked city.
From the foregoing, there is nothing absurd in the Nigerian Navy establishing a training school in the city of Kano. Moreover, many Nigerians may not be aware that the Nigerian Navy personnel are involved in a lot of internal security duties in other States in Nigeria outside the Niger Delta. These include Plateau, Benue, Kaduna and the Nasarawa and the North East.
The war against terrorism and banditrycalls for all hands to be on deck, irrespective of the arm of Service. That is the reason we have joint task forces consisting of the military and paramilitary in the fight against terrorism and crude oil theft.
Accordingly, challenging the authority for the Nigerian Navy locating a naval training school (naval base) in Kano is tantamount to querying the authority establishing the Nigerian Army Barracks or Airbases in the coastal cities of Nigeria such as Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Warri and Lagos. In the spirit of jointness, a military base, be it Army, Navy or Airforce is capable of being established in any part of the country.
It is believed that these explanations will lay to rest the various debates and commentaries being circulated on the social media regarding the establishment of a naval base in Kano.
