The politics of the Niger Delta aside,one of the reasons our military has failed in the war against the valiant MEND is basically because we have no Marine Corps.

The Amphibious brigade in PH is basically an Army unit ,ill prepared for war fare in such terrain.

I move that we look into establishing a seperate Marine Corps/Brigade seperate from the Navy or Army.

Not necessary because of the MENd issue (most Nigerians identify with their cause),but because we could get attacked in the future since its obvious we have a weakness in this regard.

So rather than the military involving itself in contracts,politics ,fighting for post-retirement traditional titles or harassing fellow Nigerians on the highways, can someone in the military push this forward.

Comments pls. . . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_(military)

I saw an article on this from Thisdayonline.

I seriously doubt our politicians have the will to pony up money for such a division, it is simply very expensive and the troops require heavy equipment and thorough training.

This money could be used for looting instead,a couple of Toyotas, a big mansion in Kaduna, a big party, investment in a hotel. Who the hell needs security when an armored truck will take care of it?

"Nigerian Marine Force" ke! Dat one na just big oyibo
We should just solve the Delta problem.
War in such terrain is "anti-conventional", requiring 100% lateral thought which is absolutely lacking in the higher echelons of our governance and Military.
Anyways, Nigeria has no issues with defense of the Delta, MEND have shown they are up to the task (afterall they were born in the water and have water flowinging their veins). . . Ask JTF . Sort out Nigeria's federal status (National Conference) and give MEND and the people of the Delta the task of guarding our creeks and oceans.

strangleyo:

I saw an article on this from Thisdayonline.

I seriously doubt our politicians have the will to pony up money for such a division, it is simply very expensive and the troops require heavy equipment and thorough training.

This money could be used for looting instead,a couple of Toyotas, a big mansion in Kaduna, a big party, investment in a hotel. Who the hell needs security when an armored truck will take care of it?

Really? Can you send me a link or if you can recall the dates,I'd like to have a look. Don't mind these politicians,we'll deal with them soon  

becoomrich:

Like i said the headquarter is in lagos, but it is not functional. check the nigeria navy website for information.

if its not functional,then it doesn't exist

In the US its under Dept of navy (headed by secretary of navy like Minister of state -navy in Nigeria)quite alright but seperate from the naval Military command

strangleyo:

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=147893

Military Urged to Introduce Amphibious Training
07.05.2009
Senate President David Mark has urged the Nigerian military to introduce amphibious training for its men, in order to meet the challenges of a terrain like the Niger Delta creeks.Mark made the suggestion in Yusufari, Yobe State, while fielding questions from newsmen at the maiden edition of desert warfare training exercise for cadets.He said terrain training was very important because it prepared ,
bros na Amphibious training de this Link o! im talking of a fully functional Marine Corps /Brigade allied to Army or Navy

becoomrich:

trust me on this, the 3rd Marine Commandos was an amphibious unit. adekunle is still alive to confirm this. even a member of my family according to my father story was killed from this unit.
and look at the navy hostory website , it says so too,

Civil war ended almost 40 years ago my dear. . . . . . .I'm looking into the future.

Nigerian navy site was last updated in 2007 !

Adekunle renamed the the 3rd infantry Division 'marine Commandos' ,just like he was called 'Black Scorpion'. . . . . . . . . .

Marine Corp /Brigade is meant to be a seperate unit ,well trained & equipped in this line of work,not some nominal apparatus !

lol Nigerian navy.

Haha, what Navy? 3rd hand boats from Germany built in the 70s?

Who's going to pay for the equipment and training? Who's going to pay the personnel, support staff, for the technological investment and the intel departments?

This is Nigeria we're talking about.

its a shame Nigeria has had people living along the coast for centuries and yet doesnt have a functioning amphibious unit.

Same way we're never represented in any swimming competition.

becoomrich:

In the civilian leadership structure of the United States military, the Marine Corps is a component of the Department of the Navy,[4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps

. . . . . .o. . oook ?!
Is anybody arguing with you??/

tpia.:

its a shame Nigeria has had people living along the coast for centuries and yet doesnt have a functioning amphibious unit.

Same way we're never represented in any swimming competition.

true talk lady,tru talk. . . . .

This'll only amount to creating more corrupt generals and underpaid NCOs as ir the case in the other service branch.

Sukosam:

This'll only amount to creating more corrupt generals and underpaid NCOs as ir the case in the other service branch.

not necessarily my friend,lets look at the bigger picture

I support.

.

Even if establishing a marine corp as an autonomous dept is hard due to funding and politics, making it function well as an offshoot of the navy shouldn't be.
I don't know too much about Nigerian paratroopers but the airborne division of the US army functions very well. Check the famous 101st airborne division.
Also keep in mind that even in the US, the marines and navy were once locked in conflict of jurisdiction. Even the USAir force is skeptical about the marines and navy owning fighter jets because it makes them less relevant. All these are issues an organised country with a tested and trusted judiciary can handle. . .Nigeria is not organised and our judiciary sucks! But it don't mean we can't pull it off, we just need to put somethings in place first.

.

I concur,it'll give our siren blaring peppersoup Generals something to think about. . . . . .

if you ask me, I think this idea of Marine force is totally unnecessary & would be a total waste and duplication of law enforcement organs!

The focus should be on making our existing forces more professional and operational. So far they've  been most effective at harrassing innocent civilians and planning coups, only to fail woefully when it really matters! Additional forces formation should be one for the very distant future after the issues of basic security and power supply have been comprehensively addressed.

Another opportunity to bleed the country of more billions of Naira, what a terrible idea.

kuramo:


Another opportunity to bleed the country of more billions of Naira, what a terrible idea.

True. . . .

We have a ready made marine force - simply integrate the MEND fighters into the army. They know the terrain and are highly trained. Problem solved.

;d ;d ;d ;d

e ma lo joko yin jeje!!!!

Nigerian is on the verge of disintegration and you are here calling for Marine Force.

SapeleGuy:

We have a ready made marine force - simply integrate the MEND fighters into the army. They know the terrain and are highly trained. Problem solved.

True talk. . . . . .

presido1:

Nigerian is on the verge of disintegration and you are here calling for Marine Force.

Says who?

this post is a reply to one earlier made with regards to Nigeria owning a marine unit. Yes, the country had a standing marine unit during the civil war (the 3rd marine commando division). But that division was later transformed to the present 3rd armoured division currently headquartered in jos. all the amphibious battalions we currently have (Port Harcourt and Calabar) are all subunits of 82 division, as it is the country's specialized div.

With regards to having a new marine force, I don't think it's necessary. What we need to do is focus on the amphibious battalions we have. We need to provide them with additional patrol boats, fast attack crafts, landing crafts, hovercrafts, communication kits, and body armour. We also need to provide the airforce units that support these battalions with more attack and transport helicopters as they come in very handy during patrols and combat insertion and extraction. We also need maritime recon assets like more fixed wing aircrafts and unmanned arial vehicles (UAVs). But what we need mostly is a change in our training doctrine. That means we need more training in counter-insurgency warfare, river-rine patrols, counter-terror ops, recon and surveillance, urban terrain ops, and direct action. We also need more officers and NCOs that can think on their feet and outside the box.

Now, the Nigerian military has actually acquired some of these assets. These include maritime patrol aircrafts (2 ATR-48s & 2 A-109s) for the airforce and navy respectively, and a high tech surveillance system that includes two UAVs from Israel for the navy, and two unmanned seaborne vehicles for the navy (also isreali). The establishment of new special operations units in the army, navy, and police also marks a change in thinking within the military. However, a lot still needs to be done.

ocelot2006:

this post is a reply to one earlier made with regards to Nigeria owning a marine unit. Yes, the country had a standing marine unit during the civil war (the 3rd marine commando division). But that division was later transformed to the present 3rd armoured division currently headquartered in jos. all the amphibious battalions we currently have (Port Harcourt and Calabar) are all subunits of 82 division, as it is the country's specialized div.

With regards to having a new marine force, I don't think it's necessary. What we need to do is focus on the amphibious battalions we have. We need to provide them with additional patrol boats, fast attack crafts, landing crafts, hovercrafts, communication kits, and body armour. We also need to provide the airforce units that support these battalions with more attack and transport helicopters as they come in very handy during patrols and combat insertion and extraction. We also need maritime recon assets like more fixed wing aircrafts and unmanned arial vehicles (UAVs). But what we need mostly is a change in our training doctrine. That means we need more training in counter-insurgency warfare, river-rine patrols, counter-terror ops, recon and surveillance, urban terrain ops, and direct action. We also need more officers and NCOs that can think on their feet and outside the box.

Now, the Nigerian military has actually acquired some of these assets. These include maritime patrol aircrafts (2 ATR-48s & 2 A-109s) for the airforce and navy respectively, and a high tech surveillance system that includes two UAVs from Israel for the navy, and two unmanned seaborne vehicles for the navy (also isreali). The establishment of new special operations units in the army, navy, and police also marks a change in thinking within the military. However, a lot still needs to be done.

OL BOY U too much, reading ur post was like reading a Clancy novel with all the detail on the military Hardware.


But like u said, a lot needs to be done & the money to pay for all this would be put to better use developing the delta.

Think about it, The per capita expenditure on the average US military man is around $2 million.(based on 2008 defense budget of $713bn & assuming 500 ppl in the us military) Now u should know it probably costs more to train a Marine which is like entry level Special Ops not to talk of Green Berets, Recon units etc etc.

Like someone said earlier we shuld free the area & let MEND provide the security since they've proven their superiority in the region over time.
Now $2m is like N300m and u know what 10% of that can do in the Niger delta.

Marine corps in Nigeria?

I believe we already have a navy who's sole purpose is to tackle any menace on our territorial waters (although what they seem to be trained to do is harass civilians,beat up women and strip them naked).

To all those clamoring for a new force because of MEND, i wonder if that would be your opinion if the oil was being tapped from your home towns.I don't praise the recent activities of MEND but every sane thinking person knows things wouldn't have deteriorated to this state if the so called clowns in government had done something meaningful about the situation.Let no one talk about MEND using dialogue coz the people of the Niger delta already tried that with Ken Saro Wiwa! And what did he get for his "dialogue" with the area boys in aso rock?He got executed.I don't condone violence but sooner or later, various groups will start taking up arms in this country due to the insensitivity of government.The only thing those bastards in government think about is holding unto power and looting in ridiculously massive proportions.

Revolution and massive blood shed is the only thing that can turn this country around (Worked in France,U.S,U.K and even Ghana).All the so called rulers of this geopolitical joke of a country want to do is suppress the inevitable.

This will be a great idea, but they have to make sure they are ready for it, training and provide all the instrument and weapon of a marine corp. and not send them away with army gadgets