The Nigerian Navy, in collaboration with the French Navy and allied partners, has flagged off Exercise GRAND AFRICAN NEMO 2026, a multinational maritime security exercise aimed at improving security in the Gulf of Guinea. The flag-off ceremony, hosted by the Central Naval Command, marks another significant step in regional efforts to combat maritime insecurity.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, who was represented by the Flag Officer Commanding Naval Training Command, Rear Admiral Abraham Zipele, described the exercise as a multifaceted deployment of the Nigerian Navy’s three Operations Commands, designed to ensure freedom of navigation in Nigeria’s maritime environment and the Gulf of Guinea. He explained that the exercise would strengthen coordination in the fight against maritime insecurity, including piracy, sea robbery, unreported and unregulated fishing, illegal oil bunkering, and illicit trafficking in persons, weapons, and narcotics.
The CNS noted that the exercise would also enhance the policing of Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone and demonstrate the Nigerian Navy’s operational capability to secure the nation’s waterways in partnership with allied navies. He added that it would showcase Nigeria’s commitment to the regional security arrangement in the Gulf of Guinea, where the country is a major stakeholder.
He emphasised that Nigeria’s maritime domain, which falls within the Gulf of Guinea, is endowed with enormous resources and remains strategic to national security and economic development. However, he acknowledged that these resources have been persistently threatened by various illegal activities at sea, noting that while the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies have recorded milestone achievements in curtailing these threats, the dynamic nature of maritime crime requires continuous collaboration and capacity building.
The Naval Chief recalled that the Grand African NEMO exercise series has its genesis in the 2013 Yaoundé summit in Cameroon, where countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea pledged to strengthen maritime security cooperation. Since its inaugural edition in 2018, he said, the exercise has become the major annual maritime security event in the Gulf of Guinea, designed to address the full spectrum of maritime security threats, including illegal fishing, piracy, maritime pollution, search and rescue, and illicit trafficking.
He further stated that the core objective of the exercise is to enhance the operational capabilities of each partner navy and strengthen the inter-regional cooperation architecture derived from the Yaoundé summit, from the strategic level down to the operational forces at sea. He noted that the exercise aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the administration’s Blue Economy blueprint.
In his remarks, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Suleiman Ibrahim, who is the Officer Conducting the Exercise, stated that Exercise GRAND AFRICAN NEMO 2026 will involve a total of five Nigerian Navy ships, two helicopters, two unmanned aerial vehicles, and foreign naval ships. The Nigerian Navy Maritime Domain Awareness facilities and elements of the Special Boat Service will also participate. The scenarios will cover anti-illegal crude oil bunkering, anti-illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, anti-illicit drug trafficking, maritime interdiction and search and rescue operations, among others.
The FOC explained that the exercise seeks to consolidate on the gains of Exercise FLEET SENTINEL conducted six months ago and the ongoing Operation DELTA SENTINEL, noting that the persistence of illegal activities in Nigerian waters requires the Navy to re-strategise to deny maritime criminals freedom of action.
Shortly after the flag-off ceremony, the participating ships and other maritime platforms deployed for the exercise cast off to sea, signalling the commencement of the operational phase of the multinational drill.
The FOC expressed profound appreciation to the President and Commander-in-Chief for his uncommon leadership and support for the Nigerian Navy, as well as to the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Defence Staff for their guidance. He also thanked the Service Chiefs, with particular emphasis on the CNS for his strategic guidance and trust, heads of sister agencies, participating foreign navies, stakeholders and members of the press for their constant support and collaboration.
He assured that the Nigerian Navy would continue to work assiduously to safeguard and secure the country’s maritime environment for socioeconomic activities to thrive in fulfilment of the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
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