President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has lavished praise on the Nigerian Navy, describing it as the most formidable naval force on the African continent, as the service marked a historic 70th anniversary with a grand International Fleet Review at the Eko Atlantic Waterfront in Lagos on Sunday, June 1, 2026. 

The occasion, which coincided with Nigeria’s Democracy Day, brought together naval chiefs, heads of state delegations, foreign dignitaries, and warships from across the world in a spectacular showcase of maritime power and regional cooperation.

The President, serving in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, presided over the trooping and presentation of new colours to the Nigerian Navy before commissioning three warships into active service NNS Mambila, NNS Gurara, and NNS Oloibiri.

The commissioning of the three vessels adds to a growing fleet that the 2026 Global Firepower Report has ranked as the strongest naval force in Africa, comprising 152 vessels and placing Nigeria 22nd globally among the world’s naval powers. Tinubu praised the Navy’s transformation from a modest coastal defence outfit of 250 personnel and 11 inherited vessels in 1956 into a modern, battle-ready maritime institution that is shaping security across the entire continent.

The centrepiece of the anniversary beyond the fleet review was the formal flagging off of the African Union-backed Gulf of Guinea Combined Maritime Task Force, which Tinubu inaugurated at the same ceremony. The Task Force, which was formally endorsed by the African Union Peace and Security Council in April 2025, is a ready-to-deploy multinational force headquartered in Lagos and currently comprising Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia.

A Nigerian Navy officer is already serving as its pioneer commander. The initiative is designed to deliver rapid, coordinated maritime security responses across West and Central African waters, targeting piracy, illegal fishing, crude oil theft, and other transnational threats that have long destabilised trade and commerce in the Gulf of Guinea.

The anniversary comes on the back of a remarkable run of achievements for the Nigerian Navy. Since 2022, Nigeria has been removed from the International Maritime Bureau’s list of piracy-prone nations — a development credited directly to sustained naval enforcement operations in the Gulf of Guinea. The Navy’s crackdown on crude oil theft and illegal refining in the Niger Delta has also contributed to a significant rise in national oil output, with average daily crude oil production climbing from 1.258 million barrels per day in January 2023 to a five-year high of 1.71 million barrels per day as of April 2026, according to NNPC Limited figures. In a further demonstration of its growing regional stature, the Naval Dockyard Limited in Lagos successfully refitted three warships for the Benin Republic Navy between 2024 and 2025.

Warships from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Brazil, Benin Republic, and South Africa participated in the fleet review alongside Nigerian vessels, while heads of navies from 15 countries, representatives of ten international organisations, and regional maritime commanders were present for the occasion.

The celebrations, which ran from May 21 to June 4, 2026, also featured the sixth edition of the Sea Power for Africa Symposium, themed “Leveraging Technology for Enhanced Maritime Security in Africa,” as well as a civilian sea experience programme that drew over 14,000 applications for just 725 available slots a testament to the growing public pride in the institution.