By Olusegun Olanrewaju
The Nigerian Navy is perfecting strategies to improve relations with its Pakistani counterpart to firm up specific areas of interest, including improving maritime and social security, such as developing platforms to neutralise anti-state elements.
The Acting Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command (WNC), Rear Admiral H.U.F. Kaoje disclosed this yesterday when he received in the audience a delegation of Pakistani Naval faculty officers on a study tour of Nigeria at the Naval Base, Apapa.
The delegation of the 51st Naval Staff Course comprising a team leader, two faculty members and 18 participants, met with the Acting FOC in Lagos, as part of a tour of military formations to expose them to military culture and operational activities in Nigeria.
Rear Admiral Kaoje, who stood in for the substantive FOC, Rear Admiral Yakubu Wambai, said such co-operation is not uncommon in the history of both navies in their 40 years of relationship.
According to him, “So many officers of the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force have benefitted from such co-operation in many areas, especially to combat maritime and piracy crimes”.
Kao added that with piracy mushrooming on a global scale, there is the need for navies to establish platform sharing modules to contain crimes. “It affects everybody. If communication is not left open for security, there can be no international trade. You know 70 per cent of the world is about international trade.
He traced Nigeria’s relationship with Pakistan on the memory lane, Karaoke noting the benefits of good relationships which enabled “most senior Nigerian officers, serving or retired in the Navy, Air Force and the Army trained at the Karachi Defence University”.
Kaoje, who is the Chief of Staff of the WNC, added, “we had some credence in the Nigerian Military Academy. I did my masters as the defence attache in Karachi between 2011 and 2014, so Pakistan is not new to me.”
As recently as 2021, he added, Nigerian armed forces personnel had training sessions in Karachi, the Pakistani capital, mainly in the training of pilots.
Harping on the need for a ‘sincere close partnership’, he recalled that during his stay in Pakistan, Nigeria’s president visited the country.
Speaking in passable Pakistani language, Urdu, he advised Pakistanis living in Nigeria to be free, open and endeavour to “ask anything”.
Responding, team leader, Commodore Ibrahim Imran, thanked the acting WNC for hosting the delegation on behalf of the Nigerian Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral A.Z. Gambo.
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Imran stressed the need to allow representing the national basis for good training collaboration in the armed forces.
He said both countries are facing the same challenges “learning from Nigeria and us”.
On the need to share platforms, the delegation leader promised Pakistan’s assistance to Nigerian Defence University.
Later, a presentation was made at the Naval Officers’ Mess for the visiting officers by Lt.-Commander Michika, highlighting the vital role being played by the Nigerian Navy in drug trafficking and maritime investment.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Navy used the occasion to highlight its challenges, especially in patrol of oil and gas and other maritime facilities, control of smuggling, as well as custody of arrested vessels.
