The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command, Rear Adm. Abubakar Mustapha, has said that Nigerian Navy has been ranked 22nd best in the world.
Mustapha said this on Thursday during the Flag-off of Western Naval Command Harbour Defense Exercise tagged: “Exercise Awkward”, which held onboard Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) KADA in Apapa, Lagos.
The FOC said the exercise was in line with Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Adm. Idi Abbas, mission to deploy a highly motivated and professional naval force.
“A naval force capable of safeguarding Nigeria’s maritime interests and collaborating effectively with other agencies in defense of Nigeria’s sovereignty,” he said.
Mustapha said that exercises such as this helped the navy test their men and equipment to know their real state of readiness to defend the country’s territorial waters.
“Gaps identified will help us recalibrate our strategy, our tactics, techniques and procedure so that we are better able to defend our maritime space,” he said.
According to the FOC, Nigerian navy’s ranking as the 22nd in the world has made it attractive partners to navies of other countries for carrying out trainings and simulation exercises.
“Most partner countries want to come to Nigeria to train with the Nigerian navy because of the high level of professionalism displayed by them.
“So, Ex Awkward (Exercise Awkward) will give our men the opportunity to be more proficient in their equipment handling and also in their seamanship.
“This will overall help in stabilising the maritime space for economic activities to thrive,” he said.
Mustapha said the harbour defense exercise, would essentially consist of drills that could be applied at sea.
“So, for the exercise, we will not be going beyond the harbour but along the channels and along most of the water terminals.
“This is because the harbour encompasses both the naval base and the entire maritime assets and all the infrastructure along the channel,” he said.
The FOC said that execution of the exercise would focus on the use of boats from the various units of the command – Takwa Bay and Badagry.
“So essentially, we will not be using big ships for the exercise but the use of boats will be dominant in this exercise,” he said.
Based on the 2026 Global Firepower (GFP) report, the Nigerian navy being ranked 22nd in the World is now the strongest in Africa.
The ranking reflects a significant rise in Nigeria’s maritime profile, driven by a total of 152 vessels in its fleet.
