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The Naval Base In The Savanna And Magic of Kano Naval Base

The Naval Base In The Savanna And Magic of Kano Naval Base

Many in the community have asked me to comment on the decision of the military to establish a naval base in Kano, Nigeria. But before I comment, let me explain what a naval base is. According to Wikipedia, a “ naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock.” Largely, a naval base needs to have water bodies that must “host” warships.

Now – why is Kano a location when we have many locations in Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, etc? Simply, it is the fruit of centralized government and the national demon of converging all wealth in Abuja.  That is the national demon!

No warship will make it to Kano but with Kano being classified as the official base, all the associated CSRs for communities that host these warships will be executed in Kano. We are all adults in Nigeria now, and it is very offensive for us as a people to say it does not matter. The ships will be docked in Rivers, Bayelsa, etc but the Navy will spend community developments in Kano!

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If that is not the case, the military can explain! Decisions like this weaken the national spirit of comparative advantages, creating unhealthy relationships. We love Kano, Owerri, Jos, Osogbo, and all cities in our nation. Each must be chosen for national “posts” on pure technical merits; Kano on this one is a WRONG choice – and I want to tell Mr President that he will confuse primary school kids when they write that ‘Kano shares borders with the Atlantic Ocean because it has a naval base”.

As a response to the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s request for the presence of Nigerian Navy in the state, to strengthen the security of the state, the Nigerian Navy has approved the establishment of Kano State Naval Base.

The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, disclosed this yesterday in Kano when he paid a courtesy call to the governor at his office.

The CNS is in the state for the Chief of Naval Staff Annual Conference 2021, between September 1 and 4, 2021.

This is a pure offensive poor policy which diminishes a professional institution like the military. As Afghanistan has shown us that military gears alone do not win wars: hearts do. That explains why Taliban overran fellow Afghans, on the “government” side, within days. Nigeria needs to show in deeds and actions of a nation of justice, fairness and equity.


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12 THOUGHTS ON The Naval Base In The Savanna And Magic of Kano Naval Base

  1. That’s what scoundrels do, unfortunately we have a disproportionate size of them overseeing the affairs of the land, from political leadership to strategic institutions. One Ganduje from Kano State asked for Naval base in Kano to help fight insecurity there, and one Gambo that heads the Navy granted!

    This is how we will win the insecurity war in Nigeria, when the supposed military heads have become more political than politicians, the same overfed military heads who profit from unending war against insurgents. We have an incredible number of dishonest creatures here, and that’s why we will keep dying, because you cannot mock God. The navy that hasn’t improved maritime security, Gulf of Guinea is the most dangerous in the world, but it wants to turn itself into expert fighters in desert areas, pitiful.

    Kaduna hosts all our finest military installations, nobody ever explained if the soil in Kaduna has special luck or favour it gives the military, but in the spirit of One Nigeria, we all let the sleeping dog lie. The NNPC that neither explores oil nor knows left its from right has its expensive headquarters in Abuja, of course the soils in Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom or Bayelsa cannot host it; we are really smart here. Even the petroleum university finds its way to Kaduna or so, until a forced upgrade of PTI.

    Scoundrels doing what scoundrels do, the same group that shout One Nigeria a lot are the ones killing the unity, deceitful lots.

  2. you ever heard of landlocked navy? The wikipedia dictionary is archaic and you should define navy in modern warfare.
    You don’t need to be a blue-waters navy but on rivers and lakes.
    Kano is built around the Kano river (Used for maritime trading in the early days) and has a great lake Tiga.
    Switzerland is landlocked with only a Rhine river and a lake. They have an armed navy.
    Other landlocked nations without coastlines exist with naval forces

    • There are many naval stations and locations across Nigeria, but you do not call them “base”. A naval base is a place where you dock military naval ships. That does not mean you cannot have Navy stations, battalions, etc in Jos, Aba, Kano, Sokoto, Ekiti, etc. But for it to be called a “base”, it must host warships. That is what modern naval bases are known for: home for warships when not in operation!

      • Base is a generic term for a military installation. Navy base, Army base, Marine base.

        In reality, for Naval is stations, army is forts and Marine is camps.

        The Air Force is the only one that actually uses base

        The recent Imo and Anambra Naval locations are called Bases. The are primarily adjoining the nearby river not sea or ocean coastline. No warships or frigates

          • “A statement issued by Naval Headquarters said the movement of the bases was designed to decongest its presence in Lagos area by expanding to other locations other than Lagos, Calabar, Warri and Port Harcourt

            “The Navy Board recently approved the establishment of three new naval bases in Lekki, Oguta and Kano. Out of these three locations, the decision to site a base in Kano has elicited debates and commentaries in the public. Some commentators have queried the decision to site a naval base in Kano.

            “It is pertinent to state here that all naval establishments and units are called bases notwithstanding their physical location,” it explained, adding, “Depending on their responsibilities, naval bases could be for operations, training, logistics or administration. In the Navy, these bases are called stone frigates.

            “While naval operations bases should typically have a waterfront or be located in a maritime environment, some naval bases do not necessarily need to have a waterfront”, it said.

            The statement signed by Naval Spokesman, Navy Commodore Suleman Dahun, said the base in Kano was intended to be home of the newly created Nigerian Navy Logistics College.

            “For the benefit of doubt and the reading public, the Nigerian Navy is currently involved in various internal security operations beyond its primary maritime security roles. Aside from serving as a training establishment for Nigerian Navy logisticians, the base will also support NN operations in the hinterland,” it said.

            The decision led to the establishment of the Nigerian Navy Finance and Logistics College in Owerrinta, Abia State, Nigerian Navy School of Armament Technology in Kachia, Kaduna as well as the School of Health Sciences in Offa, Kwara State.

            “Also in line with this decision, the Command Naval Drafting has been relocated to Lokoja, Kogi State while the School of Music is now located in Ota, Ogun State.

            “Efforts are currently ongoing to relocate the School of Communication and Information Technology, NNCET and PT School to Ife, Osun State.”
            – This Day Newspaper ©

    • The Navy is part of the Armed Forces. They were recently in combat exercises with the US military and actively involved in the terrorism war in the north.

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