Vice Admiral Gambo and his Magic Wand in Projecting Navy Sports 

For the Nigerian Navy, it’s been a season of many firsts, especially in the area of sports under the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, CFR. Chiemelie Ezeobi reports that from 

polo to the Armed Forces Paintball Combat Competition, Volleyball to other sports, the naval team has been topping the charts 

For the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, sporting activities are the bedrock of naval operations. To buttress this, the service has succeeded in identifying many talented athletes that keeps representing the country in various international tournaments.

Also, such sporting activities and physical training is the foundation of the  daily mental and physical routine for service ashore and at sea. It is for this reason and the benefits derivable from participation in sports that the Nigerian Navy pays particular attention to daily routine and programmed periodic sports engagements.

Concurring, the Chief of Administration, Naval Rear Admiral Jason Gbassa, also once affirmed that due to the benefits inherent in sports activities, the Nigerian Navy’s involvement in such periodic engagements like the Nigerian Navy Games, avail them the opportunity to identify and develop talents that will represent the nation in national and international competitions. Essentially, the games serve as the hub of producing sports talents for the Nigerian Navy and the nation.

Already, the NN participates in National Sports Federations, which are organised sporting events by releasing its athletes to participate representing various states and over the years, the navy has sponsored competitions at the national level around the country, such as the CNS National Open Swimming Championship, and the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria organised CNS U-17 Football Championship. 

Toping the National Volleyball Division One League 

Recently, the Chief of Naval Staff Volleyball team, Spikers Club made the navy and nation proud as they topped the National Volleyball Division One League.

With the win, the male team maintained its long-term winning streak as the winner of the first phase of the National Volleyball Division 1 League in Owerri, Imo State. 

Speaking during the competition, the representative of the CNS, Chairman Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Volleyball Association, Commodore Aliyu Pindar, said the remarkable performance of the CNS Spikers team can be attributed to the immense support of Vice Admiral Gambo, which has enabled the team to participate and gain exposure across Africa.

 Summarily, the male team won the Kontagora Championship in March 2023, while the female team came second in the tournament in which 37 teams in Nigeria participated. In addition, the team won the Most Valuable Player for male and Best Setter male at Kontagora. 

In May 2023, the female team was nominated by the NVBF to represent Nigeria at the Africa Women Volleyball Championship in Kelibia, Tunisia as the only volleyball club that represented Nigeria at the championship.

 Just as it was the first appearance of CNS Spikers Volleyball Club in such international championship, they also broke the 38 years’ jinx of Armed Forces of Nigeria volleyball teams not representing the nation at international championships.

Smashing through the Elite World of Polo

In January 2023, the Nigerian Navy Polo Team 2 won the OB Lulu Briggs Cup Port Harcourt. It was a big win for for a team that was just introduced to the game of polo by the Nigerian Army’s 21 Guards Brigade Polo Club in 2021 under Vice Admiral Gambo’s watch. 

For the navy, its incursion into the elite world of polo, was a needed training regime. According to the CNS, horsemanship and the ability to control horses is a necessary skill that will make it easier for the officers to manage situations and handle machineries perfectly. 

Unlike individual sports, the game of polo highlights the importance of building strong communication, developing leadership skills and team work among the players. Thus, these attributes are quite instructive regarding the development of camaraderie needed to foster synergy and team work among personnel. 

Win at Paintball Combat Competition

Barely four months ago, the Nigerian Navy won the first ever Paintball Combat Competition, beating the Nigerian Army at the event organised to commemorate the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration (AFRD).

The participating teams comprised the DHQ, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Air Force. On completion of the novelty final, the NN won the competition.

Sponsorship of Football Tournaments

But beyond the new incursion into some sporting activities like volleyball, paintball and polo, the Nigerian Navy also sponsored the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) and Naval Officers Wives Association (NOWA) Boys and Girls football competitions, respectively. 

Even as the Nigerian Navy under the able and astute leadership of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, CFR, had pledged to continually support and contribute to the development of sports in the country for the overall good of our great nation, it is expected that as he hands over the baton on Friday, the incoming CNS, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, would continue from where he stopped and take naval sports to greater heights. 

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Sporting activities are the bedrock of naval operations. To buttress this, the service has succeeded in identifying many talented athletes that keeps representing the country in various international tournaments