Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti Honours Rear Admiral Samuel Alade(Rtd) With Doctor of Public Administration

Read Time:11 Minute, 17 Second

An illustrious son of Ondo State and a community leader as well as successful military officer, Rear Admiral Samuel Ilesanmi Alade(Rtd) is one of the prominent Nigerians to be honoured by Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti as part of the programmes put together for the 26th convocation of the school.

The events which would be held on the main campus of the tertiary institution in Ado-Ekiti on March 30th is expected to attract personalities from all walks of life, captains of industry as well as top public office holders from all parts of the country.

Rear Admiral Alade(Rtd) who holds the title of Balogun of Akure Land, Jagungboye of Afa-Okeagbe, the Aare Atayese of Oyin Akoko and the Otunba of Afin Akoko would be honoured by the university with Doctor of Public Administration (Honoris Causa).

The recognition by the academic community is not unconnected to the exploits of the retired military officer and administrator whose footprints have continued to be a reference point in the country and beyond.

Rear Admiral Samuel Ilesanmi Alade (Rtd) GSS psc (+) fdc(+) Bsc MILD MPhil FNIM FCIS was born on 18th March 1961 at Oyin Akoko in Ondo State, South Western Nigeria.

After an outstanding Primary and Secondary education, he proceeded to the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna as a member of the 27 Regular Course between 1980 – 1981.

The Senior Officer attended several military institutions amongst which are Indian Navy Ship VENDRUTHY, Cochin, India for Sub Lieutenant Technical Course

from 1984 – 1985, Nigerian Navy Ship QUORRA, Apapa, Lagos for Long Navigation and Direction Course in 1990 as well as the Nigerian Naval College Onne, Port Harcourt for Principal Warfare Officers Course in 1997.

Rear Admiral SI Alade attended the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji for the Junior and Senior Staff Courses in 1991 and 1996 respectively where he graduated as the Best All Round Naval Student in Senior Course 19. The Senior Officer similarly trained at the Maritime Warfare Centre, United Kingdom for the International Joint Operations Planning Course and National Defence College, New Delhi, India in 2002 and 2008 respectively.

The Balogun of Akure in Ondo State attended civil institutions which include the University of Lagos, Akoka Lagos where he obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Masters of International Law and Diplomacy in 1992 and 1998 respectively.

It is pertinent to state that he topped the class in the latter. He studied at the University of Madras, India where he bagged a Master of Philosophy in 2008. The senior officer also attended the Strategic Management and Leadership Course at Chattam House London in 2012.

The astute military Administrator began his career in the Nigerian Navy as a Watchkeeping Officer on various patrol boats and ships. He held many command and staff positions which include Watchkeeping Officer onboard various Nigerian Navy Ships (NNS) such as NNS BRASS, NNS ENYIMIRI and NNS ARADU. He was the Flag Lieutenant to the Chief of the Naval Staff and Navigating Officer onboard NNS AMBE. The Senior Officer’s managerial skill was brought to bear even as a young officer.

Accordingly, he served as Commander of Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation from 1985 – 1986 covering Apapa zone which comprised present day Apapa, Lagos Island, Ajeromi, Orile, Amuwo-Odofin and Badagary areas of Lagos State. On 2 occassions, the Senior Officer participated actively in the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) Operations in Liberia/Sierra-Leone.

He was also a Military Observer in the United Nations Mission in Rwanda from 1994 – 1995.

5.Being a reliable staff officer, he served as Naval Assistants to the Minister of Employment, Chief of Naval Staff and Chief of Defence Intelligence Service

between 1986 and 1989. Also, he was Staff Officer (SOII) Grade II Training, SO1 Training and later Director of Plans at the Naval Headquarters Abuja.

Additionally, Rear Admiral Alade was the Commanding Officer of NNS EKPE and Executive Officer of NNS EKUN. He was also the Principal Staff Officer Coordination Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna after previously serving as Commanding Officer of Mogadishu, Abyssinia and Burma Battalions of the Academy. Also, the Senior Officer served as the Chief Staff Officer at the Eastern Naval Command Calabar.

As a professional seaman and erudite scholar, who is always willing to impart knowledge, he was a member of Directing Staff, Chief Instructor and later Deputy Commandant at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji Nigeria at various times. Furthermore, the Senior Officer was a member of the Directing Staff of the prestigious National Defence College Abuja, Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command Apapa Lagos and Chief of Navy Transformation at the Naval Headquarters Abuja at different times.

He was the Commandant of the National Defence College Nigeria, the highest strategic military training institution in Nigeria for 22 months before his retirement from the Nigerian Navy on 31 August 2017.

The Senior Officer has contributed significantly to the development of the Nigerian Navy and Nigeria at large. He was a member of the Presidential Committee that reviewed the National Defence Policy 2015 where he was given a letter of commendation by the then Honourable Minister of Defence for his meaningful contributions. He also took part in the Conference that reviewed the status of the African Integrated Maritime Security Strategy 2050 in South Africa in May 2015 and participated actively in the Chief of the Naval Staff Annual Conference at Lokoja Nigeria in 2014.

Between September and October 2015, he represented the Chief of the Naval staff at the Offshore Patrol Vessel Conference held in Rome. In addition, he was instrumental in the fight against the notorious Crude Oil Theft (COT) in Lagos area where he formed OPERATION AWATSE Joint Task Force to address the menace of COT, traffic congestion and armed robbery in Lagos State. The Senior Officer facilitated the current MoU between the Armed Forces Command and Staff College and NIM in 2013 as Dy Comdt of the College. Additionally, he made meaningful contributions at the African Union (AU)/United Nations Office for the Coordinatioin of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination Roundtable 2015 at the Centre for Research and Strategic Studies of the National Defence College Abuja and Naval Training Command Training Seminar 2016 held at Apapa in December 2015 and March 2016 respectively.

He was also a lead Participant at the African Diplomatic Briefing in London on capacity building for open source Intelligence and intelligence management process in March 2016.

He was at the workshop on Partnerships in Training and Capacity Building in Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding at the Cairo Centre for Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa (CCCPA), Egypt as a distinguished Resource Person in July 2016.

He delivered a lecture on Training and Capacity Building for an Evolving African Peace and Security Architecture: Staying Ahead of the Culve at the workshop. The Admiral also led a team from Nigeria to the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centres (IAPTC) in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina in September 2016 where he recommended a wide range of changes to Peace Support Operations and training worldwide. Similarly, he led a delegation from the Armed Forces of Nigeria to the Africa Military Education Programme Annual Training Workshop in Kigali, Rwanda in October 2016.

Rear Admiral Alade was also a lead Participant at the Challenges Forum Workshop in Bali Indonesia in November 2016 amongst. Adm Alade has contributed variously to peacekeeping operations around the world. Particularly, he participated actively in ECOMOG operations in Liberia and Siera Leone in 1990 and 1996 as well as UNAMIR peacekeeping efforts in Rwanda in 1994-1995 where he was awarded ECOMOG medal and UN peace medals 1 and 2 respectively.

While in Rwanda, he participated in truce and Ceasefire meetings alongside the Force Commander in UNAMIR amongst many other duties such as humanitarian aid management, monitoring ceasefire and IDPs management.

The senior officer has been privileged to travel to many countries around the world and also interacted with the governments of many of them. These countries include United States of America, United Kingdom, France, India, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Switzerland, Malaysia, Bangladesh, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Bosnia Herzegovina , Indonesia, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Fiji, Sri Lanka, The Maldives, China, Hong Kong, Cameroon, South Africa, Swaziland, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal, Mali, Bénin Republic, Togo, Egypt, Lesotho, The Gambia, Niger Republic, Angola, Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo. He was a participant at the UN Senior Mission Leaders Course at the National Defence College Nigeria in 2017 where challenges and issues relating to UN Field missions and UN HQ were discussed in pratical terms.

Rear Admiral Alade has contributed immensely in many ways to the development of his local community in Ondo State of Nigeria. Specifically with his efforts and support, a modern Primary Health Centre was constructed, fenced, equipped and made functional in addition to complete renovation of St John’s Primary School, partial renovation of Baptist and Ansar deen Primary Schools at Oyin Akoko.

He has also helped in awarding education scholarships to many indigent secondary and tertiary institutions students across Nigeria. Admiral Alade has always been a pillar of support to many families in Ondo state and beyond in providing jobs, medical and financial needs. It is on record that he contributed to the Ondo State Security Framework which is helping the State Government in combating current security challenges.

He is a Community Leader, notable politician, a member of All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Chairman of Akoko North West Local Government Area Advisory Council responsible for advising on community development, safety and security. In recognition of his noble professional career in the Nigerian Navy and his efforts at community development, Admiral Alade was honored with the traditional title of Balogun of Akure Land by The Deji of Akure Kingdom in November 2016

The distinguished senior officer has contributed to the body of knowledge through numerous published and unpublished works. He co-authored and contributed an article in the book titled ‘Armed Forces and Elections: A Case Study of the 2015 General Elections.’ He is also the author of the book ‘The Making of a Million Smiles: Reflections on Rwanda’s Rise from the Ashes’ published in January 2018.

As a security consultant, he has contributed in many ways to the training and development of the public and private security sectors. For instance, he was consultant speaker and delegate on the topic “Security in Nigeria during the Centinnial Years” organised by Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria (AISSON) in 2014. In 2016, Admiral Alade was the Special Guest of Honour at the AISSON Conference with the theme: ”The changing Face of Terrorism in Africa” where he made meaningful contributions. Additionally, he was the Distinguished Chairman at AISSON Security Conference 2018 where he spoke on Mitigating Critical Security Risks looking at Policy to Action Framework for Nigeria and indeed Africa.

Other engagements in the area of security and safety training include the following:

Helping to draw up Ondo State of Nigeria Internal Security Policy in 2018

Distinguished Lecture on “Insurgency and State Use of Force: The Nigerian Experience” delivered to Students of Bowen University Iwo Nigeria

Distinguished Lecture on “Terrorism and Insurgency in Nigeria: Strategic Leadership Training in Perspective “ delivered to students of the University of Ibadan Nigeria in February 2016.

Wrote a paper on Maritime Law and National Security: The Nigerian Case in April 2017.

Participant at the Regional Conference on Rwanda Journey Towards Sustainable Peace in Kigali Rwanda in 2019.

Participant at the CCCPA Conference in Cairo Egypt in 2016 where I delivered a paper on “Training and Capacity Building for an Evolving African Peace and Security Architecture: Staying ahead of the Curve”

Participant and Discussant at the Global Maritime Security Conference in Abuja 2019.

A member of the Institute for Security Studies South Africa.

A member of International Quality and Productivity Center UK.

A member of Africa Centre for Strategic Studies Washington DC USA.

Participant and Speaker at “The Challenges Forum Workshop in Bali Indonesia 2016 where I delivered a talk on Regional Dimension of Peace Support Operation.

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

Rear Admiral SI Alade is decorated with the Military Forces Service Star, Meritorous Service Star, Distinguished Service Star and General Service Star. His awards include Staff Course Dagger, Distinguished Fellow of the National Defence College Nigeria, Distinguished Alumnus of National Defence College New Delhi India, Fellow Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), Fellow Chartered Institute of Shipping Nigeria and Distinguished Service Award presented by the Chief of the Naval Staff Nigeria in appreciation of his distinguished service to the Nigerian Navy and loyalty to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, June 2019.

The Admiral was also bestowed with the African Patriotic Personality of the Year 2016 Award by The League of African Development Students (LEADS AFRICA) in recognition of his outstanding, patriotic and immense contributions to the development of human capacities and mentoring. The senior officer is The Balogun of Akure Kingdom, a traditional title bestowed on him by The Deji of Akure Kingdom for his modest contributions to the development of his community and Nigeria at large.

The senior officer is the CEO of SAMALAD GROUP of Companies, a prominent APC leader, philanthropist, the current President of 27 Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy and current President of Ajuwa Grammar School Old Students Association.