Rear Admiral Zipele Takes Over As FOC NAVTRAC, Pledges to Enhance Naval Training Standards, Operational Efficiency

Emma Sunday

Rear Admiral Ebiobowei Zipele has officially taken over as the new Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) the Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC) of the Nigerian Navy.

Zipele took over from Rear Admiral Robert Obeya, who bowed out following a major shake up in the Navy that saw the redeployment of 65 senior officers approved by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas.

Rear Admiral resumed office as the 41st FOC of NAVTRAC on Thursday after a brief handing and taking over ceremony at the Command’s Headquarters at Ebubu in Eleme local government area of Rivers State.

In his farewell speech, the out-gone FOC, Rear Admiral Robert Obeya, described his administration as both challenging and fulfilling, highlighting some achievements recorded during his brief tenure.

Obeya thanked the immediate past Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla for finding him worthy to serve in the capacity. He also commended officers, ratings, and civilian staff for their support, while urging them to extend the same cooperation to his successor for continued progress.

He said, “My tenure as the 40th Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) NAVTRAC, which spanned over 4 months has been eventful and I will always relish the experiences gained as well as the support I received from you all.

“The journey to today’s farewell ceremony began in June 2025. Thereafter, I quickly articulated my command philosophy on how best to meet the mission of the Command and to ensure smooth conduct of professional and training to personnel of the NN, AFN and other Nigerian or international agencies.

“This necessitated prioritizing realistic training in NN professional Schools, optimizing the use of technology as well as facilitating certification and accreditation of NN professional courses. To this end, strategies were produced to reinvigorate NN professional training in line with recent modern acquisitions. In our estimate, a major challenge to attaining this feat was the dearth of requisite manpower to facilitate training activities in the professional schools.

“I am pleased to note appreciable gains towards the accreditations and/or affiliations of NN professional schools and courses to ensure that own graduates compete favorably with other maritime professionals around the globe. As such, statutory requirements are being met and pragmatic curricula review have been carried out to address current realities. This has led to the proposed amendments to the duration and packages for OLC/STC,” he said.

In his remark, Rear Admiral Ebiobowei Zipele thanked the new Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas, for the confidence reposed in him to steer the affairs of the Naval Training Command in the capacity of the FOC.

Rear Admiral Zipele pledged to consolidate on the existing achievements of the Command as recorded by his predecessors, sustain and improve the Navy’s commitment to professionalism, discipline, and operational excellence through effective training.

He also assured that his leadership would enhance naval training standards and operational efficiency across the Nigerian Navy’s training institutions.

“As you can see, Mr President has found it necessary to bring on board, new service chiefs to rijig the security architecture in this country. And inline with the mandate of the new Chief of the Naval Staff, one of our goals is to see how we would rijig training to meet contemporary security challenges.

“The Chief of the Naval Staff is passionate about training in the Nigerian Navy, and that’s because training is very, very key to survival.

“The only way to get out there and tackle these current challenges facing our nation is when our men and other formations train very well and hard enough.

“Like the out-gone Flag Officer Commanding said, there is still a lot of work to be done, and I believe that everyone of you have a very important role to play, we are going to build on the existing successes and achievements.

“This command is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that there is effective training in Nigerian Navy professional schools. And the task here is to train very hard so that our men will be able to match the challenges in the field. And as I head the affairs of this command, hopefully, that mandate will be fulfilled with all the necessary support and the use of modern technology.

“So, with your support, and with the assistance of the Chief of the Naval Staff, I strongly believe that we will achieve the mandate of this command as we steer towards taking training in Nigerian Navy to greater heights,” he said.