On Monday June 19, 2023, providence smiled on a man with an uncommon destiny in the Nigerian Navy, and he was divinely lifted to head the service.
Identified as Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla the officer who was taken from Hydrograpy department of the force, was announced as the 24th Chief of Naval Staff by the Federal Government.
Born December 20, 1968 in Enugu Ezike Igbo Eze north LGA Enugu State, Nigeria. Rear Admiral Ogalla is a member of Regular 39 of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) where he graduated with a BSc in Maths and was awarded sword of honour as the best naval cadet in his course.
Rear Admiral Ogalla was commissioned a Sub Lieutenant on September 16, 1992 and rose to the rank of Rear Admiral on September 16, 2021.
Courses Attended
He completed the Sub Technical Course Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) QUORRA, Basic Hydrography National Hydrographic School India in May 2000, Junior and Senior Staff Courses Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) Jaji in November 2001 and July 2006 respectively.
He was a participant of National Defence Course (NDC) Course 22 and was awarded fdc (fellow defence college) in August 2014. As part of the Course, he took part in the MSc Strategic Studies programme, University of Ibadan from 2014 to 2015.
SERVICE
The senior officer served on board many ships including NNS AMBE, ARADU, LANA, EKUN, AGU, QUORRA, BEECROFT, DELTA and PATHFINDER. While on board NNS EKUN he took part in the ECOMOG
Operations in Liberia in 1996. Also as the Base operations officer in NNS PATHFINDER, he was responsible for coordinating anti illegal bunkering operations as well the entire policing duties of the base. During the period there was a remarkable reduction in illegal activities in the maritime area within the base area of operations.
The senior officer also served as Instructor, Chief Instructor (CI) and Commandant (Comdt) Nigerian Navy Hydrographic School (NNHS), Staff Officer Grade 1 Survey and Deputy Director Instruments Nigerian Navy Hydrographic Office (NNHO), Assistant Director Combat Policy NHQ, Deputy Director Hydrography, Director Personnel Release NHQ, as well as Directing Staff/Director Academic Research and Analytical Skills (DS/DARAS) NDC and Director Audit, Naval Safety and Standards NHQ.
APPOINTMENTS
He is currently the Director Lessons Learnt (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. As Comdt, he 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.
He was also instrumental to the review of the School’s curriculum to align with International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) requirements. During his tour of duty in the NNHO, the senior officer was instrumental to the localisation of tidal prediction and analysis.
He participated in the Food and Agricultural Organisation sponsored Guinea Current Large
Marine Ecosystem survey in 2004 and provided professional inputs during the survey and production of the NNHO charts. During his tour of duty at the NDC, he contributed towards the improvement of the College research package and also led the 2018 participants research study tour to China and South Korea. 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 Senior officer is decorated with: FSS (Forces Service Star) MSS (Meritorious Service Star) DSS (Distinguished Service Star) GSS (Grand Service Star)
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.
FAMILY/HOBBIES
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.
