PROFILE: Meet Onyechi Appolonia Anele, first-ever female Nigerian military spokesperson

PROFILE OF THE NEWLY APPOINTED ACTING DIRECTOR OF ARMY PUBLIC RELATIONS, LIEUTENANT COLONEL (MRS) OA ANELE FSS anipr

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1.⁠ ⁠ Lieutenant Colonel (Mrs) Onyechi Appolonia Anele FSS anipr, the newly appointed Acting Director of the Directorate of Army Public Relations (Ag DAPR), is a seasoned, versatile and highly accomplished public relations, crisis and strategic communication expert with a steadfast commitment to excellence, discipline and service. She is widely recognised for her exceptional leadership acumen, deep professional insight and strategic foresight in advancing military public communication. A firm believer in hard work and dedication, she brings to her new role a wealth of experience cultivated through years of impactful service in diverse command, instructional and public engagement capacities within the Nigerian Army and international peacekeeping missions. Destined for greater heights in career and life, she was born to the family of late Warrant Officer Cyraicus Anele and Mrs Appolonia Anele (now late) and hails from Ehime-Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State.

2. Lt Col. Anele had her primary school education at Army Children’s School, Rukuba Barracks and her secondary education at Command Day Secondary School, both in Jos, Plateau State. Appolonia attended the University of Jos where she obtained a Diploma and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Communication respectively. Upon her graduation, she attended the mandatory National Youth Service Corp and thereafter was commissioned Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army Directorate of Army Public Relations as a member of Direct Regular Course 15 on 8 December 2007.

3.⁠ ⁠ She has attended several military and civil courses in the course of her impeccable military career. Some of the courses include the Young Officers Course (YOC), in 2010, the Media Operations Officers Course in 2013, the Advanced Public Relations Officers Course in 2016 and the Strategic Communications Course in 2025, all at the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information (NASPRI). She also attended the Crisis Information Management Course, Conflict Prevention Course and Integrated Peace Support Operations Course all at the prestigious Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Accra, Ghana between 2011 and 2013. She further attended the Joint Information Operations Course and the Gender in Peace Support Operations Course at the Royal Airforce Halton, United Kingdom in July 2015 and at the École de Maintien de la Paix, Bamako Mali in June 2015, respectively.

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4. In 2017, Mrs Anele attended the Gender Training of Trainers Course at SwedInt, Sweden. In her quest to acquire more knowledge, she obtained a Master of Arts Degree in Gender Peace and Security, from the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana in 2013. She also holds a Master of Arts Degree in Leadership and Strategic Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna in 2024.

5.⁠ ⁠ A well-experienced senior officer, the new Acting Director, Ltd Col. Anele, has held several command, staff and instructional appointments which include Military Public Information Officer Nigerian Battalion (NIBATT) 5 at the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Sudan in 2008, Staff Officer Grade 3 Information/Publication at the Headquarters 2 Division Nigerian Army Ibadan from 2008 to 2012, Instructor/Administrative Officer and Chief Instructor at the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information (NASPRI), Lagos from 2013 to 2016 and the Gender Officer at the Department of Army Training and Operations, Army Headquarters Abuja between July 2016 and January 2018.

6. She was the Public Relations Officer to then Chief of Army Staff, Nigerian Army from January 2018 to May 2021, as well as the Public Relations Officer at the Defence Space Administration between May 2021 and January 2022. Additionally, she was the Acting Executive Director of Corporate Affairs at the Nigerian Army Welfare Holdings Limited by Guarantee (NAWHLG) from January 2023 to October 2023. Until her recent appointment, she was the Staff Officer Grade One, Human Rights at the Defence Headquarters Department of Civil Military Cooperation.

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7.⁠ ⁠ Lieutenant Colonel Appolonia Anele was promoted to the ranks of Captain, Major, and Lieutenant Colonel in the Nigerian Army in 2012, 2016, and 2021 respectively.

8. A sound intellectual with instructional abilities, she has delivered several lectures during seminars, conferences, and workshops. Some of these include: “Enhancing a Professionally Responsive Nigerian Army in the Discharge of its Constitutional Roles: The Gender Perspective” at the Nigerian Army Women Corps Convention Abuja in 2022; “Gender Mainstreaming in Peace Support Operations” to participants of Naval Warfare Course 7/23 at the Naval War College of Nigeria, Calabar in 2023; and “Gender Inclusion and Career Planning in the Nigerian Army: Female Officers in Perspective” during the Army Headquarters Department of Military Secretary Career Week for Officers in 2025, among others. Lieutenant Colonel OA Anele is an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and a holder of the Forces Service Star Award of the Nigerian Army. Her hobbies include reading, taking long walks, and listening to music. Lt. Col. Anele is happily married.

9. Lieutenant Colonel Anele’s appointment as army spokesperson is historic. She is the first female officer to be appointed spokesperson for any arm of the Nigerian military – army, navy and air force.