PROFILE: Meet New Chief Of Naval Staff Who Got 8 Distinction In WASC, Excelled At NDA

The newly appointed Chief of Naval Staff, Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, NN/1725 was born on 20th of December, 1968 in Enugu Ezike, Igbo Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State

He obtained his WASC from the NMS Zaria in June 1987 where he graduated as the best student in Sciences, scoring A1 in eight subjects.

He graduated with a BSc in Mathematics and was awarded Sword of Honour as the best naval cadet in his course.

He became a member of the 39 RC NDA afterwards.

Commissioned S Lt on 16th of September 1992, and rose to the rank of Rear Admiral in 2021.

The highly revered officer completed the STC NNS QUORRA, Basic Hydrography National Hydrographic School India in May 2000, Junior and Senior Staff Courses AFCSC Jaji in 2001 and 2006 respectively.

He was a participant of NDC Course 22 and was awarded fdc on August 14. As part of the Course, he took part in the MSc Strategic Studies programme, University of Ibadan from 2014 to 2015.

He also served on board of many ships including NNS AMBE, ARADU, LANA, EKUN, AGU, QUORRA, BEECROFT, DELTA and PATHFINDER.

It was while he was on board of NNS EKUN that he took part in the ECOMOG Operations in Liberia in 1996.

Emerging as the Base operations officer in NNS PATHFINDER, he was bequeathed with coordinating anti-illegal bunkering operations as well as the entire policing duties of the base.

It was noted that while overseeing the NNS, there was a remarkable reduction in illegal activities in the maritime area within the base area of operations.

This shot up the revenue base of Nigeria, which plummeted drastically owing to activities of illegal oil refiners, bunkering and theft across the region.

The new naval chief also served as instructor, CI and Comdt NNHS, SO 1 Survey and DD Instruments NNHO, ADCP, DD Hydro and DPR NHQ, as well as DS/ DARAS NDC and D Audit NASS at the national headquarters, NHQ.

Until his appointment, he was the DLL NHQ.

During his cumulative 6-year tour of duty in NNHS, he taught geodesy, datum conversion, tidal predictions and analysis, satellite surveying, bathymetry, among others with his wealth of experience.

As boas, he is credited to have linked the School with Teledyn Marines, a reputable OEM in the US, which enabled the NN to procure several survey equipment from the company, leading to improvements in practical training.

Rear Admiral Ogalla was also instrumental to the review of the school’s curriculum to align with IHO requirements.

During his tour of duty in the NNHO, the senior officer was instrumental to the localisation of tidal prediction and analysis.

He also participated in the FAO sponsored Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem survey in 2004 and provided professional inputs during the survey and production of the NNHO charts.

In addition, he contributed towards the improvement of the College research package and also led the 2018 participants research study tour to China and South Korea during his tour of duty at the NDC.

While as DLL, he was responsible for collating and analysing previous NN Operations and activities with the objective of drawing lessons necessary for doctrinal and operational improvements.

The new naval boss is decorated with FSS, MSS, DSS and GSS. He is a member of the Nigerian Hydrographic Society, Nigerian Institute of Management, the International Earth Rotation Services and also a fellow of the Occupational Safety and Health Association of the UK.

He is married to Mrs Ijeoma Ogalla and the marriage is blessed with 2 children. His hobbies include jogging, reading, listening and researching about science and nature.

He assumes duty immediately and would be cleared when the Senate resumes plenary after recess.