Nigerians have been exposed to numerous military operations in the last six years than any other time in the nation’s history.
As each security situation emerges and the military – army, navy, and air force – is dragged in to quell it, so is an operation laced with an exotic name to portend its peculiarity.
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE investigation revealed that Nigerian military had, in the last six years, launched 40 operations and exercises – Last Hold, Harbin Kunama, Whirl Stroke, Crocodile Smile, Python Dance, Hadarin Daji, Cat Race, among others – towards confronting terrorism, farmer-herder clashes, kidnapping, banditry, militancy, ethnic clashes, bunkering, and piracy.
However, as Nigerians read or watch footages of these operations, they are struck by one curiosity: just where exactly do these codenames come from?
In the beginning…
Operation codename was pioneered by the Germans with Operation Barbarossa during World War 1, and thereafter the idea was picked up by British and American militaries in World War II.
In Nigeria, perhaps, Operation Damisa, launched on January 15, 1966, to overthrow the first republic administration was the first operation code name.
Where the codenames come from
Generally, the idea of codename was to protect secrecy, confuse the enemy and simplify communications. However, how this is arrived at differs from country to country.
Initially, the German military branded missions with religious and mythological titles, while Britain used heroes of ancient times, figures from Greek and Roman legends, and names of British and American war heroes.
However, in recent times, British military commanders adopt Winston Churchill’s rules for naming operations, which advised that codenames should be boastful, devoid of revelatory tendency, kept in strict confidence, and avoid disparaging soldiers or campaigns.
In the United States, high-profile operations are titled with striking code names to elicit support and funding from Congress, as well as shape public perception. In this way, codenames are a form of propaganda.
Middle-level officers who are saddled with the task of coming up with codenames are guided by U.S. 1972 guidelines, which cautions against names that go contrary to American ideals and current foreign policy, offensive to good taste or allies or derogatory to a particular group, and away from well-known expression. It also required that all names feature two words.
How Nigeria gets its codenames
“Usually operation codenames are derived from what is common and people are familiar with in the area the operation is conducted,” a retired Master Warrant Officer (MWO) Akpan Obot told 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE.
“For instance, if you look at Operation Python Dance which was launched in the South East, the area is a rain forest with python as dominant snake. Likewise, if you look at Operation Crocodile Smile in the South-South where it was launched is a water area, with plenty of crocodiles.”
But retired Colonel Sunday Emmanuel, who had served at the army’s Directorate of Training and Operations, said naming military operation goes beyond adopting names of dominant animals common in the general area, but on the situation and the aim of the operation.
“Like the defunct Operation Lafiya Dole, the ultimate aim was to restore peace in the troubled area of northeast,” he said.
“Operation Lafiya Dole was changed to Operation Hadin Kai to achieve a specific objective, well known to the top military commanders. The meaning of operation and aims may not be deciphered by looking at the surface meaning.”
Emmanuel said although Nigeria military is fashioned around the British style and follow some rules of naming operations, Nigeria localize operation code names, using locale names from local languages.
“In most cases the planners of the campaign, usually staff officers, sit down and come up with names, after looking at the situation and things in the area,” he said. “The suggested names are then submitted to the military highest hierarchy, which will look at it and fine-tune it to suit the objectives of the campaign.
“They use local languages to enable the people of the area to relate to the operation; because it is also a tool of persuasion. But the people don’t need to know the ultimate aim of the operation; that is the business of the planners of the campaign and the high military command.”
