State Security Services (SSS) operatives taking arrested member of the Iranian Republican Guards to court

Military punishment

Lab training @ a Nigerian military institution

Amphibious troops of the 81 Division, Nigerian Army in training exercise off The Slave Coast, Badagry, 25 June 2009

Nigerian soldiers shadow box, while a U.S soldier watches.

Training with Israeli specialists

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This biography of Brigadier General (Dr) Otu Oviemo Ovadje, inventor of the EAT-SET, was written before he retired from the Nigerian Army.

Brigadier General Dr. Otu Oviemo Ovadje, born 20 December 1954 is a Medical Doctor in the Nigerian Army and a Chief consultant anaesthesiologist and intensive care physician who works at the Military Hospital, Ikoyi-Lagos. Trained at both the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. He is a Fellow Medical College of Anaesthesiology, Fellow West African College of Surgeons, member Association of Military Surgeons of the Federal Republic of Austria and Life member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States (AMSUS) and has attended numerous courses and conferences internationally.

Brigadier General Dr. Ovadje was declared the Best African Scientist in 1995 before African Heads of States when he won the World Intellectual Property Organisation and Organisation of African Unity Gold Medal for scientific work designed to save women who usually die from abnormal pregnancy (ECTOPIC GESTATION). He also won Promex Silver Medal in Geneva in April 1998. He is a two time winner of the Chief of Army Staff Award of the Nigerian Army for professional excellence, and various non medical awards. Recently elected into the membership of the Association of Military Surgeons of the Federal Republic of Austria.

Brigadier General Dr. Ovadje was Chief of Delegation -Nigeria, to the World Congress of Military Medicine at various times. Dr. Ovadje has delivered lectures in United States of America, Germany; China; Zimbabwe, Austria and Lesotho- South Africa. He is a member of the Technical Working Committee of the International Congress of Military Medicine.


Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje in 1989, solved the problem of blood salvage from body cavities by pioneering and creating a design the EATSET to replace and improve on the gauze filtration technique as practiced in developing countries. The EATSET device has been described as a low cost and an appropriate technology relevant to the needs of developing countries. Its development is part of the global effort at ensuring blood safety. The device is made up of a transparent rigid capsule, incorporating a V – shaped micro – filter and its part arrangements allow its adaptation to a manual source of low vacuum.

Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje, as a medical doctor undergoing specialist training in Nigeria, observed that a lot of women during pregnancy in developing countries die from internal haemorrhage (bleeding) arising from ruptured ectopic pregnancy.

The condition is common in developing countries and the absence of a well organized blood transfusion service is a factor in the increased morbidity and mortality in this group of women, many of whom cannot afford the cost of procuring blood from the laboratories. The gauze filtration and scooping technique adopted by earlier doctors did not seem to be attractive to most practioners who considered the technique messy and unsafe.

The initial skepticism that greeted the simplicity of the EATSET and it’s lack of sophistication led to the invitation of Dr. Watson Williams by the World Health Organization as consultant at the instance of the UNDP in its response to a request by Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje for financial support to enable him refine the crude device through a North _ South collaboration.

The EATSET was used in its primitive but sterile form by Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje to save intraperitoneal blood from 12 patients as presented at the world congress of the International Committee of Military Medicine (ICMM) in Augsburg, Germany in June 1994, and Published in the journal of the ICMM in 1995.

The UNDP sponsored the refinement of Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje’s EATSET in 1994, under the executive of the World Health Organization. By April 1995, the equipment was refined and in-vitro trials were conducted successfully at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital by Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje, Mr. Fell and Professor Asalor, Professor Akinsete and Professor Dorothy Foulkes-Crabbe, (Chairman of the African Chapter of the World Federation of societies of Anesthesiologist.) (WFSA) both approved of the work.

Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje organized an International Scientific Conference and Workshop (April 29 – 31 1995 sponsored by the UNDP, WHO and the Federal Ministry of Health to determine the degree of the problem of heamorrhage in pregnant women in developing countries. About 430 medical professionals, (Doctors, Nurses, Hospital, Administrators, Scientists and Industrialist attended from Nigeria, Ghana, Switzerland, United Kingdom and India. His presentation of techniques of auto-transfusion and the EATSET to medical doctors undergoing specialist training at an OPEC funded conference at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital (1990) and during a seminar organized by the Commonwealth Defence Science Organization at the Defence Headquarters in 1991 contributed in endearing the EATSET to many of his professional colleagues.

Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje’s work in the management of ectopics in developing countries was publicly acknowledged by Government. UNDP and WHO whose awareness of the need for a simplified, low cost device such as the EATSET in developing countries increased. Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje won the 1995 OAU-WIPO Invention Award in recognition of his significant contribution to African innovation in the field of Health Care. A Gold Medal was presented to Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje during the OAU summit in Addis-Ababa.

Prof Morel’s report from the Geneva University Hospital Cantonal confirmed the need for the EATSET and of its usefulness in clinical practice. Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje in 1996 won the National Council of Health and Ministerial Award for professional excellence and for his contribution to health technology

Brigadier General Dr Oviemo Ovadje won the World Bank institute award in February 2000 after he was classified as one of the top 339 finalists at the developmental market place in Washington DC.

He became the first African to win the World Health Organisation Sasakawa Award in the year 2000.

He won the national honour of Member of order of the Niger MON

Brigadier General Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe (Chief of Defence Staff of Sierra Leone)
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Born on January 1st, 1950 at Zeku, in Adamawa State, he attended the Native Authority Junior Primary School, Dong from 1958 to 1961 and Native Authority Senior Primary School, Numan, from 1962 to 1963. He later attended the Church of the Brethren Mission, Waka Secondary School, Biu, in Borno State from 1964 to 1968.  In September 1969, in the dying months of the civil war, he enlisted as a soldier.    He was subsequently enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) Short Service Combatant Course 11 from March 29, 1971 until September 13, 1971 when he was commissioned 2/Lt with seniority effective from March 29, 1971. He was initially posted to the Infantry. He was awarded the Nigeria Defence Service Medal in 1973, promoted Lt. in 1974, and awarded the Republic medal in 1975. 
 
 
Following a heroic role during the Dimka coup attempt of 1976, he was encouraged to apply for transfer to the Armoured Corps as a Captain (which he became in 1977), having already attended the Young Officer’s Course (Infantry) and a number of support weapons courses at the School of Infantry.    After joining the Armoured corps, he attended the Armoured Officers Basic Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky (USA) and later, the Advanced Armour Officer's Course.   He also attended a Gunnery course at the Royal Armoured Corps School, Bovington Camp, UK.   His area of specialization was Gunnery.    
 
Khobe was 2ic of 245 Recce Battalion Ikeja under Capt. Martin Luther Agwai (the former Chief of Army Staff) and was responsible for coordinating the training program of that battalion.  He did all this under some pressure because the unit was constantly under close security surveillance, especially in the months leading up to October 1979 when General Obasanjo handed over to President Shagari. 
 
According to a former Army Officer,
 
“He played a very key role in the deployment of Duty Officers to Radio Nigeria and State House Dodan Barracks. His claim to fame was his appetite for" the job". Throughout my years with him I never saw him in No. 4 Dress. He was forever in anklets and 99% of the time engaged in practical soldiering instead of staff work. He was not cast in the same mould with other Armour officers like the late UK Bello, Buba Marwa or Friday Ichide who were highly skilled staff officers and were literally adored by very senior officers. Khobe's magnetic pull for senior officers came from his practical ability and endearing qualities towards junior officers, NCOs and soldiers alike.”
 
He attended the Staff College in 1983 and was promoted Major in 1984.  In August 1985, as Commanding Officer, 245 Recce Battalion, Ikeja, he led a unit of Tanks in Lagos during the palace coup that removed Major General Buhari from power, ushering in fellow Armoured Corps officer, Major General Babangida.   He was awarded the Forces Services Star in 1986 and became a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1989.

Always leery of a political appointment (he turned down political appointments offered to him by General Babangida after the 1985 coup), the outbreak of the Liberian crisis in 1990 provided him an outlet for his martial inclinations.  He eventually served four tours of duty there, getting ECOMOG Liberia medals for each one.  In addition he won the coveted Nigerian Army Chief of Army Staff Commendation Award and became a Colonel in 1994. 
 
According to another ex-Army officer,
 
“Bachama by tribe, (from the Numan - Demsa axis), Khobe was the archetypal warrior. Without a doubt, he was the most outstanding Nigerian soldier throughout the Liberian war. Some of the feats he performed are story-book like.  He was extremely fearless and motivated very many Nigerian troops who kept lobbying for postings to his unit where casualties were minimal.   In short, as the Commander of the 221 Tank Battalion (and later a Brigade Commander), he was the Etuk of the Liberian war. After his return from Liberia, he was personally asked by the late General Abacha to work out details for the establishment of a military task force which would be specifically tasked to bring an end to Armed Robbery in Nigeria. Of course when he submitted his requirements to "Baba", money matters "kpafukad" the plan as usual. It was after that he got the Sierra Leone job.  He was a completely detribalized Nigerian.”

On February 12, 1998, he led the ECOMOG Ground Task Force assault that removed Major Koromah from power and restored the elected government of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.  He was promoted Brigadier and later assumed the position of Chief of Defence Staff of Sierra Leone.  In December 1998, after evasion measures, he slipped out of encirclement when the RUF attempted to take Freetown, barley escaping being captured at Hastings Airport General Khobe was injured during this campaign, but he waved away medics who tried to attend to him, telling them to go and take care of other soldiers. The injury eventually cost him his life).

On Tuesday, 18 April 2000, Khobe died of Encephalitis at the St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos one week after being evacuated back home from Sierra Leone.

The BBC’s West Africa correspondent, Mark Doyle, wrote this obituary in honour of General Khobe:

LEAD-IN: Now this week’s profile which, unusually, is more of an obituary. General Maxwell Khobe, Nigerian commander of ECOMOG and the man considered by many Sierra Leoneans as the hero in ousting the rebels from Freetown, died this week in a Lagos hospital following a cardiac arrest. The ECOMOG commander had been made the chief of defence staff of Sierra Leone by President Tejan Kabbah when the government of Sierra Leone was reinstated. Here’s our West Africa correspondent Mark Doyle.

BBC WEST AFRICA CORRESPONDENT MARK DOYLE: I had a soft spot for General Maxwell Khobe. I think he may have saved my life. Early last year I was in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, when rebels were trying to oust the elected government. Half the city was on fire, and the rebels were committing unspeakable atrocities against civilians. I was in the small part of the city held by the government -- or to be more precise, since most of the government army had joined the rebels, I was in the part of town held by General Maxwell Khobe’s Nigerian troops. On this occasion I found Khobe, a stocky bulldog of a man, in a hilltop military barracks. I asked him if it would be relatively safe for me to take a look in the center of town. "I don’t think so," he said in his gruff voice. "Best to wait a bit." That was quite a statement. Khobe and I both knew what it meant, that his troops were not in control. Quite an admission for a general to make in war. But I was grateful for his honesty. Another foreign journalist who unfortunately hadn’t heard this advice was killed by rebels when he went into the center of town the next day. In the middle of that fierce battle for Freetown, Maxwell Khobe briefly lent the foreign press corps his only helicopter so that we could evacuate our colleague’s body. Many Sierra Leonean journalists also died in the battle. General Khobe and I weren’t always on good terms. Two years ago he was angry with me when I found myself on the rebel side of a front line which he was attacking. He listened to my BBC radio reports that the rebels were fighting back -- which they were -- and those reports infuriated him. At one point he telephoned me across the front line. He told me he was going to flush out the rebels and that I would be well advised to keep my head down. Khobe did as he had promised. He arrived with his men near the Freetown front line. According to a soldier who was there, he looked at the smoking battle front and then began walking towards it saying, cool as a cucumber, "Gentlemen, let’s go." Analysts will no doubt debate Khobe’s military record for years to come. The war in Sierra Leone has been at the centre of a major African power struggle. The stakes have been high. Some say Khobe was a brave soldier whose tough and wily tactics overcame the generally low level of training and equipment in the Nigerian army. Others say that he was beaten by the rebels who have now won a share in government through a shaky peace deal because he got sucked into Sierra Leonean political and business affairs. This, they say, weakened his military professionalism. But most Sierra Leoneans are very sorry that General Maxwell Khobe, the foreign head of their national army, their Nigerian "big brother," has died. Ordinary Sierra Leoneans fear that if the peace agreement were to break down, the UN troops might not show the same resolve or resourcefulness that the Nigerians used in fighting the rebels. That’s why the death of the Nigerian commander was such a blow to the confidence of many in Sierra Leone. Khobe had his flaws, but to most ordinary people there he was a hero, the man that protected their elected president. The mourning for the passing of Nigerian General Maxwell Khobe continues in Sierra Leone today.


Ben Asante who knew Gen. Maxwell Khobe personally writes about the exploits of the Nigerian general and chief of defence staff of Sierra Leone who died of a heart attack on 18 April.

Sometime around Christmas 1998, Brigadier General Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe invited us – a group of visiting journalists – to lunch with him at his official residence in Freetown.

It was a Sunday. He arrived late, and when his military convoy sped through the gate, he briskly jumped down from the jeep. With a quick apology, using words like, “he has been busy doing nothing and wasting other people’s time”, he proceeded to say the grace. It was unusual for even an ofFicer known to be deeply religious. For several minutes, Khobe prayed that President Kabbah be protected and allowed to complete his mandate against attempts by rebels to overthrow him.

Little did we know at the time that what was uppermost on Khobe’s mind was rebel activities slowly threatening the government and the people of Freetown. Barely a year before, he had liberated the capital in a swift action against the AFRC military junta headed by Major Johnny Paul Koroma. Khobe was among a small core of Ecomog officers who saw action in both Liberia and Sierra Leone. I first met him in Monrovia, Liberia, in 1992.

Few soldiers trust civilians, and least journalists, especially during operations, but Khobe invited us to film battle action involving his tanks.

We were not disappointed For one moment by the experience and in seeing what impact our work was having on the morale of Ecomog troops. Several times soldiers came on our camera to send messages to their relatives. One 25-year-old gunner shouted a message on camera to his father. “Papa, I am a man now for I have fought in a war as a soldier!”

Khobe hardly entered a tank at the front but preferred to walk armed with nothing but a radio. In typical fashion, he and several officers and troops marched on foot to take town after town in Liberia until they captured Buchanan City in 1992.

Because of the utter confusion generated by Ecomog’s role in fighting to protect itself and the civil population in its areas of control, people began accusing the force of becoming a party to the conflict. The level of misgivings about Ecomog was such that a CNN reporter asked the then Ecomog chief of staff Brig-Gen Victor Malu, why his troops who were supposed to be neutral were fighting alongside other factions opposed to Charles Taylor’s NPFL and allowing them to operate freely in Monrovia.

We visited Khobe regularly at his Caldwell base in Monrovia where he kept an open door. He was an avid poultry farmer, a habit he brought to Monrovia.

After his tour of duty in Liberia, he went back home where in very quick succession, he held appointments first as head of a special unit formed to protect Lagos against armed robbers, then to Abuja, and to the Armour Brigade headquarters at Yola, not Ear from his hometown, Numan.

In 1985, he turned down a political posting from the military head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. After serving in Ecomog in Liberia, another posting was to follow not long after. The May 1997 overthrow of President Kabbah by the AFRC junta in Sierra Leone offered Khobe another opportunity to work abroad. He was appointed the commander of the Ecomog Task Force in Sierra Leone.

In a lighting action, Ecomog troops marched into the capital and seized the centre of Freetown including the State House with Koroma’s junta in flight. In recognition of his efforts, President Kabbah asked the Nigerian government to second him as chief of defence staff of the Sierra Leone army.

Khobe had been promoted a full Brigadier-General but he hardly had enough time to re-build the Sierra Leone army before the rebels invaded Freetown again on 6 January 1999. In spite of repeated intelligence warnings, no-one would listen.

Weeks before the attack, Khobe went out one early morning and removed the rebel leader, Foday Sankoh from the Pademba Maximum Security Prison where he was on death row. Had he not removed Sankoh, the fate of Sierra Leone and the outcome of the 1999 invasion would have been different.

The rebels broke into the prison on G January and freed all the inmates, but they missed Sankoh who remained in the hands of the government and ended up negotiating for a ceasefire.

Khobe was a joy to watch at the front. He kept encouraging the troops to move forward. Several times we went to the front at first light only to discover that the men had withdrawn from the positions we left them the evening before. Many factors caused the pull back. Ammunitions were not delivered after they ran out or no food supplies came through. Other times rumours circulated that the rebels were coming with anti-aircraft guns, and lacking effective cover the men just pulled back. Wherever Khobe went, the troops seeing him surged forward and just kept going.

Late last year, Khobe came to London to undergo an operation to remove a shrapnel lodged in his back which he sustained on duty in Freetown. He came only after the rebels had signed a peace agreement. His back hurt him most times and he walked with a limp but he rather put up with the pain than abandon his post. The first operation was successful.

In December he had another operation which unfortunately had to be reopened after an abscess was discovered at the airport just as he was about to return to Freetown.

He returned to his post in January this year. His wife, Martina, who was in London throughout his treatment, went along to Freetown to nurse him.

In March, Khobe went to Harare, Zimbabwe, to address an NGO conference on the plight of civilians in a conflict situation. He passed through London on his way back From Harare, and told me that his British doctors had given him a clean bill of health. He planned to come back to London for further check up in April.

But while in Harare, someone had given him a photocopy of New African’s report (NA February) on how Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s first premier, had been killed in a Western-backed plot in 1961 while UN peacekeepers looked on. He wanted the original copy badly because UN troops had recently been sent to Freetown to keep the peace in Sierra Leone.

I sent copies of the Lumumba report to him later, but according to Capt. Hassan who was with him in London, Khobe had been unwell since he returned to Freetown on 23 March. Until then, I knew nothing about his sudden poor health.

He died of cardiac arrest in his hospital bed at 10.30 am on 18 April, aged 50. He was buried in his hometown of Numan in Adamawa State, Nigeria, on 29 April. NA

Rukuba Cantonment Jos was renamed Maxwell Khobe Cantonment in his honour.

Presidential fleet (Nigeria 001)

[size=14pt]NIGERIA'S THUNDER CLASS FRIGATES[/size]

1) [size=14pt]NNS OBUMA[/size]


NNS OBUMA (F87)

Obuma means thunder in Efik.

 

NNS Obuma was originally named NNS Nigeria and is Nigeria’s first frigate. This private-design frigate was ordered from Wilton-Fijenoord shipyards in the Netherlands to serve as the Nigerian Navy’s flagship. It was constructed in Holland, launched on 12 April 1965 and commissioned on 16 September 1965. The ship’s first commander was Captain Nelson Bossman Soroh (who retired with the rank of Rear Admiral and served as Chief of Naval Staff).

Following the collapse of the bloody January 15th “Majors mutiny”, coup suspects were initially kept aboard the detention cell on NNS Nigeria before being transferred to land based prisons (It was rumoured that Major General Ironsi, the Supreme Commander, slept aboard NNS Nigeria every night and returned to State House Marina in the mornings, for fear of being killed by either northern soldiers or Nzeogwu’s loyalists). During the last weekend of July 1966, it was NNS Nigeria under Soroh that provided offshore refuge to the late Brigadier B Ogundipe when discipline broke down completely following the “Northern counter coup”. Ogundipe subsequently transferred to the MV Aureol and left for the United Kingdom as Nigeria’s new High Commissioner, by sea.

 

The NNS Nigeria overcame several serious attempts by secessionist sympathizers to sabotage it during the run up to hostilities in early 1967. This ship saw heavy use during the Biafran War, both as a blockade ship and as a makeshift transport. It subsequently took active part in the naval blockade of the Eastern Region in June and July 1967, during the opening phase of the civil war and the joint amphibious assaults on Bonny (July 1967) and Calabar (October 1967). On 5 January 1967, NNS Nigeria was loaded with marines who were landed via the ship’s boats and other small craft in the area, to support Nigerian troops outside Bonny. This reinforcement was viewed as a critical success by the Nigerian army. Other ships involved were the NNS Penelope, NNS Lokoja, NNS Ogoja, NNS Benin, NNS Enugu, MV Bode Thomas and MV King Jaja. The NNS Nigeria in particular was credited with beating back a determined Biafran attempt to retake Bonny in late September 1967. She also gained international spotlight when she seized the Dutch ship MV Jozina (which became the NNS Kwa River). MV Jozina had unsuccessfully attempted to penetrate the blockade. In 1968, Nigeria was attacked by B-26 Invaders of the Biafran Air Force. The ship was not damaged. Nevertheless, at one difficult point during the breakout phase of the Calabar landing, the ground force commander, then Lt. Col. Benjamin Adekunle, stopped responding to signals from the NNS Nigeria requesting situation reports. In response to frantic inquiries from higher-ups in Lagos, then Captain Soroh sent a controversial signal to Supreme Headquarters that simply stated, “I wish I knew”.

 

Only four years after commissioning, the ship was in bad shape and from 1970-1971 underwent an overhaul by Cammell Laird in the UK. By 1977 the ship was again in poor condition and underwent a second overhaul, this time in the Netherlands. The ship’s name was changed at the 1980 launch of NNS Aradu as the Nigerians did not want a second-line frigate to bear the country’s name.

In 1982 NNS Obuma was decommissioned but recommissioned shortly thereafter, following an austere repair period at Lagos in Nigeria. All the anti-submarine weapons (ASW) systems were deleted at this time. By 1986 Obuma had been reduced to a training vessel, again in poor condition. From then on out the ship’s condition progressively deteriorated. Obuma had largely been abandoned by 2001, with the 40mm guns having been stripped off. The ship was last seen flying the Nigerian ensign in late 2005 and has not been mentioned since, except for once in 2008 when a senior naval officer suggested the ship might be refitted and restored to service. As of 2011 this has not happened and Obuma will likely be scrapped soon.

The Nigerian navy had several planned upgrades for this ship that were never carried out. In 1979 plans were drawn up to replace the Squid with ASW torpedo tubes and modernize the radars, this was cancelled early on due to lack of funds. In 1983, a very ambitious comprehensive refit was planned that would have replaced the Squid with ASW torpedo tubes, replaced the main gun with a OTO-Melara 76mm Rapid, added a EO/FLIR sensor, modernized the sonars, added SCLAR countermeasures launchers, and refurbishment of the engines and hull. It was also hoped to buy an additional Lynx helicopter. Although the project was approved in 1983, the money was siphoned off elsewhere and by 1987 the project had been abandoned. During the brief 1993-1994 return to democracy the Nigerian navy restarted the effort however when the Abacha regime took over in 1994 the effort was blocked as Abacha wanted to limit spending in the Lagos shipyards which he viewed as a potential centre of political opposition.

 

 

 

 

 

Displacement: 1724t standard, 2000t full Dimensions: 360’2”x37’x11’5” Machinery: Diesel-reduction: 4 Burmeister & Wain V9V24/30B diesels, 2 reduction gearboxes, 2 shafts w/5-bladed props Max speed: 26kts Range: 3500NM @ 15kts Complement: 216

AIRCRAFT

Helipad only (Lynx Mk.89 almost never embarked)

WEAPONS-Guns

x2 (1 twin) Vickers Mk.XVI 4”                  9NM surface / 6 ½ NM AA

x4 Bofors 40mm                                         3NM AA/surface

x2 Oerlikon 20mm                                      1NM AA/surface

WEAPONS-ASW

x1 Squid                                                      1NM sub

SENSORS-Radar

AWS-4 (E/F)                                               55NM large/high / 44NM small/high / 25NM small/low 2D air search

Decca 1226 (I)                                            24NM navigation (range, bearing)

SENSORS-EW

Oerlikon EO gunsight for 4” guns              Visual horizon (range, bearing, altitude)

RDF loop

SENSORS-Sonar

Type 177 hull                                              3 ½ NM passive (bearing, class)

                                                                    3NM active (range, bearing, depth)

Type 162 hull                                              1NM active (range, bearing, depth, Squid targeting)

2) NNS ARADU

NNS Aradu (F89)

The need to have a modern sophisticated frigate to complement and eventually replace Nigerian Navy's long serving frigate, NNS Nigeria (now Obuma) became apparent to naval planners in the mid seventies. The old lady, as NNS Nigeria, was popularly known then was fast becoming irrelevant in the fast changing world of naval technology. Nigerian Navy needed to reach blue waters with the appropriate ships in terms of firepower, extended operational range and enhanced surveillance capability. NNS Aradu became the answer to these aspirations.

The ship initially named The Republic was ordered in 1978. Her keel was laid in December 1978 and she was launched on 25 January 1980. In November of the same year, following a new policy of the Nigerian Navy was renamed Aradu (Aradu means thunder in Hausa). It was commissioned on 22 February 1982. Aradu was acquired by the regime of former President Shehu Shagari. She was recently refitted, refurbished and equipped after being alongshore for over 12 years. The ship proved it was still seaworthy by taking part in celebrations commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar by sailing to Great Britain in 2005. The ship, which carries a crew of about 250 officers and men, requires 500,000 litres of petrol per voyage.

 

Aradu is the first of the MEKO 360 General Purpose frigates built by the German Blohm + Voss company of Hamburg.

The 125.6 m ship is the biggest in the Nigerian Navy. She is a multi-purpose frigate with capabilities for anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare effectively. The ship also possesses capability for naval fire support and electronic warfare. Additionally, she carries a ship-borne helicopter for anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, and enhanced surveillance/detection

The ship is unique in the adoption of the modular approach in the design of the hull and the containerization of armaments. By the modular design concept, various sections of the hull of Aradu are built to specific measurements separately and then assembled at a shipyard. The advantage of this style of construction is that every section of the ship can be produced independent of the other sections. In case of damage, it is thus easier to replace the affected section of the ship separately and then fixing it back at a shipyard. This same flexibility is adopted in the armament of the ship. These are kept in containers and can be tested ashore independent of the various stage of construction. Once the hull is ready, the containerized armaments are then easily fitted into the hull the same procedure adopted in case of major repair or replacement.

 

The MEKO class of ships is thus able to proceed on other missions while defective units are left for repairs at workshops. This is different from other designs where the ship for example has to sacrifice other missions in order to repair or replace a unit of her armament. Another advantage is that with the Meko concept, whole sections of the ship can be produced and stored as spares. In case of emergency, the ship simply enters a dockyard to replace whatever section that is needed. Modernization of armaments and systems can thus take place with minimum interruption to the ships' program.

 

Aradu is an all-purpose fighting ship capable of undertaking the following missions alone or in concert with other units:

*) Sustained and independent blue water patrol over a range of 6500 miles.

*) Gunfire support to friendly forces operating up to 16 km from the coast.

*) Air defense of self and cooperating forces over a range of 155km,

*) Anti-submarine warfare (short range or extended range using helicopter borne torpedoes.

*) Electronic warfare (intercepting and jamming).

*) Missile attack against surface units up to a range of 80 km.

*) Mine laying.

*) Airborne or surface Search and Rescue

Since she entered naval service, NNS Aradu has taken part in major naval exercises, fleet reviews and diplomatic cruises. She played a prominent part in "Operation Seadog" in 1985 and "Operation Odion" in 1987. The ship has undertaken extensive diplomatic visits to countries like Gabon, Congo, Zaire, Equatorial Guinea and numerous European countries. She has also participated in joint exercises with visiting ships of the German, Indian, French and the Brazilian Navies. Aradu played a major role in peace keeping operations in Liberia and Sierra-Leone and was also involved in border skirmishes between Nigeria and Cameroun. She had a total of two groundings and a major collision in 1987 She ran aground again early in 1994 during post refit trials, and was assessed as beyond economical repair in 1995, but then managed to go to sea again in early 1996, and again in 1997 when she broke down for several months in Monrovia. She then steamed back to Lagos on one engine in 1998.

In August 2005, Aradu participated at the International Fleet Review to mark the Centenary of the Battle of Trafalgar in memory of Admiral Lord Nelson at Portsmouth with other 100 warships from 36 navies. It also participated in two major exercises in 2005 and 2006, called "Igbochi" and "Idabo".

In a bid to strengthen Nigeria/Brazil military cooperation, 2 naval ships, NNS Aradu and NNS Nwamba, departed Nigeria on 3 August 2007 to take part in Brazil BiCentenary Celebrations. The ships arrived in Monrovia, Liberia, on 9 August to a rousing welcome by Liberians and Nigerians resident in the West African country. They were received by the Chief of Defense Staff of Liberia, Major General Abdurahman of the Nigerian Army.


NNS Aradu and NNS Nwamba in Brazil.


Sailors aboard NNS Aradu prepare to salute Queen Elizabeth during ceremonies marking the bi-centenary of the battle of Trafalgar.

3) NNS THUNDER

NNS Thunder (F90)

The Nigerian Navy in 2011 acquired the United States Coast Guard cutter, USCGC CHASE (WHEC 718). The 115m ex-USCG ship weighing in at 3,250 tons is one of a flotilla of twelve sister ships which were extensively modernised in the early 1990s. In real terms, though not nearly as heavily armed, the Hamilton-class are roughly the size of Nigeria’s flagship, the MEKO 360 frigate that is NNS Aradu and that says a lot about their potential sea keeping capabilities. The ship has been renamed NNS Thunder (F90).

The ship, whose keel was laid on October 26, 1966 at Avondale Shipyards Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana, was designed as a high endurance cutter, with a crossing range of 9,600 nautical miles (17,800 km) at 20 knots (40 km/h). It also has an 80 foot flight deck, capable of handling Navy helicopters - making it an ideal platform for extended patrol missions.

As far as the acquisition of naval platforms go, Nigeria have been virtually slumbering for twenty years on the bounce. It is hoped that they reach for a minimum of FOUR units of these Hamilton-class warships. Sometime ago, it emerged somewhere that Nigeria need 35 Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) and Offshore Patrol Craft(OPC) to effectively police her Exclusive Economic Zone. It is the case that for the price of a new frigate, Nigeria can acquire six of these used but still seaworthy OPVs (three or four when the OPVs are acquired brand-new). Right now, Nigeria’s emphasis should be piling on the numbers.

Nigerian Navy personnel, quoted as being in training in Alaska, will probably steer the ship back to Nigeria. The warship, donated to Nigeria by the United States, on Monday 21st December 2011 began its journey to Nigeria where it will help to boost security in the Gulf of Guinea - a region bedevilled by piracy and robbery at sea.

 

The ship, under the command of Navy Captain Muhammed Baba Nageju, left the US Coast Guard Island in Alameda, Califonia with 150 crew member on board at 2.13pm.

The ship arrived Nigeria in the first week of Janaury 2012, after making stops in five countries - Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Senegal, and Ghana.

 

Its departure was preceeded by a colourful ceremony witnessed by the Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada, Chief of Policy and Plans, Naval headquarters, Rear Admiral James Oladimeji, Command Technical Officer, Western Naval Command, Navy Captain Peter Onwordi, representative of the Nigerian ambassador to US, Mr. Steven Akingbolasan, Defence Attache at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, Group Captain Aliyu Gaya, Commander of the US Coast Guard Chase Morgenthau, Captain Mathew Bliven, and Deputy Defence Attache, Navy Captain Kayode Adefemi.

 

Speaking with journalists on the significance of the ship to the Nigerian naval fleet, Chief of Policy and Plans, Naval Headquarters, Rear Admiral James Oladimeji, said NNS Thunder "is the only one of its kind in the whole of the Gulf of Guinea."

 

Oladimeji said the ship would play a major role in helping the nation police its territorial waters and ensuring maritime security in the Niger Delta and the Gulf of Guinea - a stretch of nearly 2,000 nautical miles with shipping ports, harbours and transhipment areas that are largely unmonitored, uncontrolled and vulnerable to attacks by terrorist groups, criminals and militants.

 

The naval chief also disclosed that the ship was coming at a time when the Nigerian Navy was re-appraising it operational tools in the light of the evolving security challenges confronting the nation's maritime industry.

 

Obada, in her address at the ceremony, commended the efforts of the US government to help Nigeria police its waters effectively. She recalled that US Coast Guard had in the past transferred four 180 foot buoy tenders to the Nigerian Navy. Noting that, "today marks an important day in the history of relations between Nigeria and United States", Obada  expressed hopes that the transfer of the ship to Nigeria would further cement the bond of friendship between both countries.

 

The captain of the ship, Navy Captain Muhammed Baba Nageju, in his own remarks at the ceremony, said, "My joy cannot be quantified. First is to see the Thunder dream come true and that she will be departing today". Noting that the ship was initially billed to depart US last July and arrive in Nigeria in September, Nageju said. the departure was delayed till now because it was moved to "dry dock"  for refurbishment, which include repainting the ship in Nigerian Navy colour and installation of new communication equipment according to "our specification".

 

The increasing wave of piracy and robbery at sea had been a major concern of the various states in the Gulf of Guinea and the international community.

 

In August 2010, The US dispatched a specialised team of Coast Guards to Nigeria to train Maritime Law Enforcement Agents on how to effectively secure the region.

NNS Ambe (LST1312)
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The landing ship tank, NNS Ambe, undergoing repairs.

I first knew what it is in 1990. On the 9 o'clock news they showed troops preparing to sail to Liberia. Its hull opened and armoured tanks, personnel carriers and fighting vehicles were rolling into it (or was it its sister ship, the Ofiom?). It's a Landing Ship Tank (LST)! The C130 of the navy.

I wish we had amphibious landing ships and amphibious assault ships.

Independence day flypast.

The route from Dodan Barracks to Tafawa Balewa Square would have been decorated at least a week before the day. There'd be balloons, ribbons, posters, etc on Awolowo Road, Tafawa Balewa Square Street, Obalende Road, Ikoyi Road, Moloney Street and Catholic Mission Street.

Babangida usually held the "command performance" (held at night on September 30th) in which Nigeria's best entertainers would perform.

I usually loved the commencement proceedings. The general/national salutes. The different saluting styles of the various armed services. Waiting to see what the President's wearing (Shagari's different shades of green and white. Babangida, wearing the uniform of a different armed service each year). But the part I loved the most was the flypast.

The parade commander would give the order for the 21 gun (actually cannon) salute. I would go to the door. I would hear the boom of the cannon first from TV, them live from TBS. The firing of the cannon was interspersed with stanzas of the national anthem. As soon as the salute is over you would see them. Two fighter jets and two helicopters. The jets with green and white smoke trailing behind them. They'd fly low over TBS, Five Cowrie Creek and then past my house. The MiG 21s looked like torpedoes or rockets (seeing them from almost side view meant that I could barely see the wings).

I was told that toys were thrown down from the helicopters in the '60s and '70s, but this was stopped when some people got injured when they were hit by falling toys. I don't know if this is true.

MiG 21

(Civil war, 1970s and '80s)

D'Assault/Dornier Alpha Jet (Liberia & Sierra-Leone)
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The main fighter/bomber used during operations in Liberia and Sierra-Leone.
I'll never forget the BBC African Service's interview with a rebel commander. This was the one thing they feared. Even the BBC's reporter (think it was Jonathan Pelele) was in awe of it.

Sepecat Jaguar
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My favourite Nigerian Air Force jet, it was also used for independence day flypasts. (I think it was last used by the RAF in Yugoslavia '99).

There are various theories about the decline of the Nigerian Air Force which began in the mid 1980s. Here are 3 of them.

1) The "Vatsa Coup": In 1986 some military officers planned to overthrow the government of Ibrahim Babangida. The plot was foiled. It was an amateurish plan that included the bombing of Dodan Barracks and Ikeja Cantonement by the air force.


After this plot, General Babangida decided to ground the air force. No new planes were bought and old planes were not repaired.

2) An air force officer stated that after one of the air force's display at a national event in 1987, General Babangida made enquiries about the strength and capabilities of the air force. He subsequently decided to ground the air force so that it would not be used against him.

3) The nations economy declined after 1982. It became worse after the implementation of the SAP policy began in 1986. The naira was also devalued. This meant that it became difficult to buy new planes and repair old ones. However, it must be stated that the armoured corp grew during this period.

Things got so bad in the mid and late '90s that the air force had to depend on the Alpha Jets as the only remaining combat worthy fighter/bombers.

President Obasanjo came to power in 1999 and decided too sell off the MiG 21s and some of the Jaguars. He also decided to buy Chengdu F7 fighters (basically a Chinese copy of the MiG 21) as a stop gap measure before buying better quality planes.

Unfortunately, we are still at that "stop-gap" point.


Chengdu F-7 Ni

MI-35P Helicopter Gunship


Anybody remember Rambo?

Nigeria Air Force ("made in Nigeria" ) Air Beetle.


In the late 1980s it was announced that the air force (in association with a private company) had built the first "made in Nigeria" plane. We were excited. Yeah, it's a propeller plane, but at least it's a start.

Then I found out that it's a kit plane.

Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria 1914-1960

Abeg even a kit plane is still a start!

It would be welcome to see a similar initiative from the current government.

naptu2: Nigeria Air Force ("made in Nigeria" ) Air Beetle.


Then I found out that it's a kit plane.

Protectorate of Southern Nigeria 1900-1914

GenBuhari: Abeg even a kit plane is still a start!

It would be welcome to see a similar initiative from the current government.

You are right. Google "Van's aircraft wikipedia".

Oops! I skipped two posts. I'll take two steps back.

Hercules C130


The Charley 130 is the workhorse of the Nigerian Airforce (indeed a workhorse for Nigeria). In the old days, when super eagles players flew to matches on board the presidential jet, supporters club members often flew to match venues aboard a Nigerian Air Force Hercules C130.

Air force C130s have also been used to convey NTA News outside broadcast van to Liberia for the inauguration of Eileen Johnson Sirleaf, carry presidential limousines to states that the president is visiting and carry the corpses of prominent national figures to their hometowns for burial.


President Yar'Adua's corpse is being loaded aboard a C130

August 7, 2003, Chaotic scenes as war-weary Liberians celebrate the return of the Nigerians

Protectorate of Northern Nigeria 1900-1914

Lagos (pre-1960)

naptu2: State Security Services (SSS) operatives taking arrested member of the Iranian Republican Guards to court

Wonder why the SSS men are looking so 'Rambo-ish...'. There's some tough looking niqqas right there

Federal Capital Territory Lagos (1960-1967). Lagos State (1967-1970).