Idiko1: It is silly to have even scheduled WAEC on Monday by the goofy officials in Nigerian as West Africa. This is one the reason people outside Africa think Africans are stiffs who cannot think. What happens with the rest of week beside Monday? In certain climate where certain folks are fighting for independence, schooling of any sort is put on hold. The IPOB, Biafra, Republic of Igboland, Ndigbo and the need for a homeland are serious business. It is so serious the dumbass education found in Nigeria, which cannot a produce an ordinary rope to use in commission of suicide, can wait. Besides what has Nigeria done with 60 plus years of education? I shall take Republic of Igboland over silly education without growth found in Nigeria.
naptu2: I wonder if I can find that video. It's such a long time and I can't even remember the context very well.
naptu2: Haha. I underestimated myself. I found it at first try. It's from 2013. I even found the Nairaland thread.
Al-Jazeera interviewed some arrested Boko Haram fighters, but that's not why I'm posting the video. I'm posting it because I want you to take note of the masked Nigerian Navy SBS commando in the background.
Vietnamese communists that had fought against Japan established a government in Hanoi at the end of the Second World War. The former emperor, who had ruled Vietnam before the invasion of the Japanese, also established a government in Saigon. This led to the creation of two separate countries, the communist North Vietnam, which was backed by China and the Soviet Union and the capitalist South Vietnam, which was backed by the United States and its allies.
However, a communist group, called the Viet Cong, began a guerrilla war in the South with the aim of staging a communist revolution. The Viet Cong were obviously backed by North Vietnam. The war escalated and the United States intervened in order to ensure that South Vietnam remained a capitalist country. North Vietnam also got directly involved in the war and China was secretly assisting the North Vietnamese.
Transportation was quite difficult in many parts of South Vietnam, especially in the Delta. It had a very intense rainy season during which it was difficult for aircrafts to fly. Many of the roads were bad and the rainy season often turned them into mud paths. The best way to travel in those areas at that time was by boat on the many rivers.
The United States Army and Navy staged a joint operation on the rivers of Vietnam. The Army used river boats to transport men and material across South Vietnam. They also used the boats to conduct stop and search operations to prevent the Viet Cong from moving fighters and equipment, to insert US Navy SEALS for special operations and to ensure that civilians could use the rivers without worrying that the Viet Cong would attack them.
In this video you'll see some of those US Army patrol boats in action. Nine out of ten times they are just inspecting friendly Vietnamese boats, but you'll also get to see what happened when they encountered the Viet Cong.
The US troops signalled a boat to stop so that they could search it, but the boat refused to stop, instead it raced towards the shore. The soldiers fired warning shots, but the boat refused to stop. One of the people on the boat jumped out when it got close to shore and he began swimming and then running into the jungle. Then the US boat began receiving fire from guns in the jungle. The troops radioed their base to ask for air support. A US Navy helicopter took off from an LST that was at the mouth of the river and went to assist the US boat. Meanwhile, before the helicopter got there, the US boat had fired on the Viet Cong boat and it exploded. That means that the Viet Cong boat was most likely carrying ammunition.
Patrol Boat, River or PBR, is the United States Navy designation for a small rigid-hulled patrol boat used in the Vietnam War from March 1966 until the end of 1971. They were deployed in a force that grew to 250 boats, the most common craft in the River Patrol Force, Task Force 116, and were used to stop and search river traffic in areas such as the Mekong Delta, the Rung Sat Special Zone, the Saigon River and in I Corps, in the area assigned to Task Force Clearwater, in an attempt to disrupt weapons shipments. In this role they frequently became involved in firefights with enemy soldiers on boats and on the shore, were used to insert and extract Navy SEAL teams, and were employed by the United States Army's 458th Transportation Company, known as the 458th Seatigers.
Swift Boats, were all-aluminum, 50-foot (15 m) long, shallow-draft vessels operated by the United States Navy, initially to patrol the coastal areas and later for work in the interior waterways as part of the brown-water navy to interdict Vietcong movement of arms and munitions, transport Vietnamese forces and insert SEAL teams for counterinsurgency (COIN) operations during the Vietnam War.
naptu2: This will give you an idea of why the Nigerian Army wants its own aviation corp.
This is the most famous example of an army fighting in the air. One of the most common symbols of the Vietnam War is the Bell UH-1 Iroquois aka "Huey".
The Huey was used by the US Army for close air support, medical evacuations and as a troop transport. It is not an attack helicopter, rather it is more of a transport helicopter in which you can fit a door gunner.
Here is a short documentary about the Huey's service in Vietnam.
naptu2: Someone gave me a good laugh on Nairaland a few years ago. Nigeria bought naval helicopters and he was angrily criticising the purchase. What was his criticism about? Well, it appears that the guy believes that the only military helicopters that exist are attack helicopters. He was angry because the helicopters did not look like attack helicopters
As I said last week, naval helicopters are used for a variety of tasks and these include anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue operations, airborne early warning and control operations, medical evacuations, etc.
As a Helicopter Pilot, the sky is your domain. Hover over the sea for search and rescue, land in the center of the action to extract soldiers and Sailors or track and neutralize enemy submarines in defense of your ship. Aerial maneuvers in a helicopter require hours of training, versatile skills and a little bit of creativity to get the job done.
America’s Navy defends on land, at sea and from the air. As a Navy Fighter Pilot, the latter is your domain. Fly at Mach speeds around the globe while completing complex air maneuvers. Catapult off carriers at 170 mph and land on moving runways only 300 feet long. You will gather intel, drop ordnance and conduct defensive missions—all in the most versatile strike fighters on the planet. The F/A-18 Hornet and the cutting-edge F-35C Lightning II. It’s time to take your seat in the cockpit. Find out what it means to Fly Navy at
naptu2: Let's expand on this idea that the Navy does not only fight on water, the air force does not only fight in the air and the army does not only fight on land. Let's go international.
The issue that led to the controversy is that the Nigerian Navy announced that it was setting up a desert warfare school in Kano. So let's look at other navies in the desert.
These are US Navy Seals (the equivalent of the Nigerian Navy SBS) fighting in the deserts of Iraq.
Watch these badass Navy Seals in action in the desert. A tribute to Navy Seals using declassified footage.
They are in the navy, so that should mean that they fight on water, right? But they are special forces troops, so that should mean that they fight on land, not so? But they are also pilots, so that should mean that they fight in the air!
naptu2: The Nigerian Navy has a fleet of naval helicopters that it operates from its frigates and corvettes. These helicopters are used for anti-submarine warfare, airborne early warning, search and rescue operations, medical evacuations and boarding search and seizure operations.
The Nigerian Navy has mainly used Lynx, Augusta Westland and Bell Jet Ranger helicopters. The Navy has two air stations, the Nigerian Navy Air Station, Ojo (I've been there) and the Nigerian Navy Air Station, Warri-Effurun.
naptu2: The Nigerian Air Force has had ground troops for quite a while. However, in response to Boko Haram's attack on Maiduguri Airport and Air Force Base, the leadership of the Air Force decided in 2015 to create the Nigeria Air Force Regiment as a means of coordinating the various ground troops groups in one structure.
The Nigeria Air Force Regiment is made up of:
1) The Special Operations Force (basically, the Nigerian equivalent of the Special Air Service).
2) Quick Response Force (the Air Force equivalent of the army's Quick Response Group. Their job is to protect the Air Force's bases and to engage in counter-terrorism operations).
3) VIP protection squad
4) Regiment training centre.
It also includes paratroopers.
This is a documentary about the Nigerian Air Force special forces. It also includes footage of some of the troops that were trained by the British advisory team and the Israelis. (The British Government sent a team of SAS and SBS commandos to train the Nigerian Air Force special forces).
naptu2: I was going to do this yesterday, but I didn't have the time. I'm going to write about the idea that the army doesn't only fight on land, the navy doesn't only fight on water and the air force doesn't only fight in the air.
I'll do it in bits and pieces, so that I don't get bogged down like I have with the Lagos series.
I'm in Lagos at the moment and the army division that is responsible for Lagos and Ogun states is known as the 81 Division. It is an amphibious division. In fact, its logo was once a hippopotamus (I have seen 3 logos at Dodan Barracks, the black scorpion in the 1970s and '80s, the hippopotamus in the 2000s and the palm tree in the 2010s).
Their job is to fight in rivers, creeks, lakes streams and to work with the Navy to attack land from sea. That's why they have often had amphibious exercises. In recent years the amphibious training and exercises have taken place in Badagry, but I remember that once upon a time, when Lekki was mainly made up of bushes and swamps, they took place in Lekki.
Basically, the army also fights in and on water.
Here are pictures of amphibious training in Badagry, the old hippopotamus logo and some Nigerian Army boats.
naptu2: You might have heard by now that the Nigerian Navy is planning to establish a desert warfare centre in Kano. This has led to criticism and condemnation from some people. Normally I would slam and condemn such people, but I won't do that this time because I can understand where they are coming from. They have the old idea of the military that I had in the early 1980s. That idea says that:
The Army fights on land, the Navy fights on water and the Air Force fights in the air.
That very simplistic idea does not explain what the military does. The Navy fights in the air, land and sea and even under water, the Army fights on land, air and sea and the Air Force fights in the air, on land and even in outer space.
The second mistake that they are making is that they think that the North is made up of deserts and no bodies of water. That's obviously not true.
So why does the Navy need a desert warfare centre? What's the Navy, which they think is supposed to fight on water, got to do with deserts? Well, there are two reasons and here they are:
1) Lake Chad: Back in the 1980s I imagined what it would be like if the Nigerian Navy had a base on Lake Chad. I did not realise at the time that they already had a base there and I could not have imagined how important that base would be decades later.
There are many uninhabited islands on Lake Chad and Boko Haram had developed a tactic of retreating to those islands whenever they were put under pressure by the Nigerian military. The Air Force and the Navy have been involved in many operations to clear those islands and there has been a tug of war between the Nigerian Military and Boko Haram for control of the islands.
Furthermore, that area is very important. The residents of that area previously earned a living from fishing, but they have not been able to carry out that occupation because of fear of Boko Haram. It has been up to the Navy to assure the residents that it is safe to fish in the area. Boko Haram also earns revenue from the area by imposing taxes on the fishermen.
I would have shown you evidence of all of these, but I don't want to spread Boko Haram propaganda. Boko Haram once captured the Naval Base on the shore of Lake Chad and they released a video that showed them jubilating on Nigerian Navy boats. The Navy recaptured the based a few days later (this was in 2019). I am obviously not going to post that video.
2) Special forces The military's special forces are some of the best trained and equipped fighters that it has and they are all needed in the war in the North-East. The Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service (SBS) has also been involved in the war against terrorists as you can see from the video that I posted earlier. The Boko Haram prisoners that were interviewed were being guarded by Nigerian Navy SBS commandos.
The Naval personnel that guard the Navy Bases on the shores of the Lake Chad, as well as the SBS commandos that battle the terrorists, need to be trained in desert warfare and this training was previously done in the United States. I don't see anything wrong if those that were trained in the US are now going to train other Naval personnel at the desert warfare school in Kano.
LASG, ENERGY FIRMS AGREE ON POWER SUPPLY TO LAGOSIANS
…Releases 20,000 free prepaid meters for low-income areas
Lagos State Government, through its Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, on Tuesday signed a Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) with Ikeja Electric and Sahara Power Group to increase power supply and provide uninterrupted power to residents of the State.
The agreement between Lagos State Government and the energy firms signed will also include distribution of free prepaid meters to low-income areas, with the pilot phase of 20,000 meters to be distributed in Alimosho Local Government Area of the State.
Speaking during the signing of the agreement at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, the Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Olalere Odusote, said the aim of the agreement is to increase power supply to at least 22 hours daily, from about eight to 12 hours daily.
The Commissioner said the implementation would start immediately, adding that Lagos State Government has identified a number of feeders that can provide power in 20,000 low-income areas with plans to replicate the initiative across the state.
He said: "This Memoranda of Agreement is to ensure the provision of uninterrupted power to residents, especially the low-income areas. It is also part of efforts to solve the problem of metering and infrastructure deficit to ensure these areas get power supply which is also measurable.
"The 20,000 meters have been procured by the state government and would be distributed free to low-income areas in Alimosho Local Government Area as the pilot phase. Our intention is to replicate this gesture in other areas of the state once the pilot phase is successfully executed.
"We have identified a number of feeders that can provide power in these communities and implementation would start immediately." Also speaking, the Managing Director of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC), Folake Soetan expressed the firm's readiness to support Lagos State Government in ensuring uninterrupted power supply to residents of the State.
In his address, the Managing Director of Sahara Power Group, Anthony Youdeowei, said his company will be transparent in its dealings with the Lagos State Government and Ikeja Electric to provide power supply for Lagosians.
SWDude: Except that the flood in Germany wasn't caused by a dam. It was caused by the unusual heavy rainfall. Let's say it as it is, the dam is badly managed.
Last year's rain pattern was worse, but guess what? There was no flood! This event is somehow calculated. There was flood in 2019, so they let everyone rest from the menace in 2020, and then make it happen again this year. The fact remains that the dam is badly managed for selfish reasons.
Oho! So they are deliberately making it to happen? That's good to know.
Politics › Re: BBC Igbo Invited Ijelespeaks To Speak On How ESN Stopped Waec by naptu2: 4:23pm On Sep 15, 2021
