The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla has, once again, highlighted the imperative of Nigeria’s strategic maritime environment as defined by a combination of international and national regimes.
He said that under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Nigeria has sovereign right over 12 nautical miles of territorial sea and jurisdictional claims to 200 nautical miles of Exclusive Economic Zone.
He emphasized these on Friday, 11th April, 2025, while delivering a lecture to the participants of Naval Warfare Course 9 (NWC 9) at the Naval War College Nigeria (NWCN) Central Lecture Hall.
The CNS, who was represented by the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral SA Akinwande acquainted participants of NWC 9 with the CNS’ command philosophy for the attainment of Nigerian Navy’s constitutional mandate in a lecture titled: “My Command Philosophy and Vision for the Nigeria.”
According to the CNS, with a coastline of 420 nautical miles, this translates to about 5,040 square nautical miles of sovereign territory and 84,000 square nautical miles of Exclusive Economic Zone.
He added with this maritime area, the country can exercise exclusive rights to minerals and marine resources is comparable to more than one-third of Nigeria’s total landmass.
Additionally, Nigeria’s maritime environment includes inland waterways spanning approximately 10,000 km of creeks/rivers, of which about 3,800 km are navigable all year-round.
These waterways, the CNS reiterated, provide vital access to 28 of Nigeria’s 36 states and connect to six neighbouring countries: Benin Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Chad, Sao Tome and Principe and Niger Republic.
The welfare lecture also highlighted the CNS’ command philosophy for the Nigerian Navy (NN) and the CNS’ strategic imperatives for the NN.
The CNS concluded his lecture by stating that the NN would continue to emplace appropriate strategies and demonstrate undoubting commitment towards ensuring the nation’s maritime area is safe and open for legitimate activities.
This resolve is anchored on the fact that protection of the maritime domain is NN’s statutory responsibility coupled with Nigeria’s commitment to leverage the Blue Economy for economic prosperity.
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