Eight Years After, South-east Gets Seat At Security Meetings; Ogalla Appointed CNS

By Gideon Njoku

“A Presidency source which pleaded anonymity told this medium that “With the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma’s profile in the Party, especially, as the Chairman of Progressive Governors, it is not possible to, like before, deny the Zone a slot in the appointment of new Service Chiefs”

There is good news for the South-east region of Nigeria. Eight years after its total exclusion from Security Council meetings in Abuja, it ,now, finally has a representative at that highest  level where security issues are discussed and decisions taken.

One of its sons, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla Ogalla,  has been appointed the Chief of Naval Staff.

Ogalla was appointed on Monday, June 19, 2023, alongside other Service Chiefs by President Bola Tinubu.

For the eight years of the administration of the immediate past Government of President Muhammadu Buhari, the South-east protested the injustice of excluding the Zone from Security meetings by the non-appointment of anybody from the Zone to a sensitive position.

Inspite of the complaints and protests, former President Buhari played deaf. On Monday, President Tinubu put an end to it.

Ogalla’s appointment, a Presidency source who pleaded anonymity told this medium, was helped by the high profile position of the Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, in the ruling  All Progressives Congress, APC, especially his Chairmanship of the Progressives Governors Forum. In that position, the source said, it is not possible to deny the Zone a slot in the appointment of Service Chiefs.

The new Chief of Naval Staff is from Igboeze North Local Government Area of Enugu State. He was a former Director of Audit, Naval Headquarters and later, Director, Lessons Learnt.

Rear Admiral Ogalla was born on December 20, 1968.

He is the second SE son to be appointed Chief of Naval Staff and the third to be appointed a Service Chief since after the Nigerian Civil War.

Rear Admiral Alison Madueke was the first Chief of Naval Staff from the South-east. The first Chief of Army Staff since 1999, from the Zone, was General Azubuike Ihejirika who was appointed during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan.