Rear-Admiral Anthony Isa was one of the most brilliant officers in the Nigerian Navy. His academic laurels and professional competence are in full display in this important memoir, Allegiance and Loyalty in Service: My Life in the Nigerian Navy. From his first day in the National Defence Academy to his unceremonial departure as commandant of the National Defence College, some 35 years later, Admiral Isa never wavered in his sense of duty and his loyalty to the nation. The importance of this book goes far beyond his personal story. His courageous and brutal expose of the mediocrity and the intrusion of politics that have effectively hobbled the Nigerian Navy by denying brilliant and competent officers the right to lead the service aright underscores its importance. What he has written about the ugly face of the Nigerian Navy is replicated in the Nigerian armed forces. Politics has damaged the services. Admiral Isa's principled stand did not endear him to the system, his superiors and the politicians - and he suffered abject humiliation for it. This book is not his revenge. His objective, consistent with his principle, is not to wash the dirty uniforms in the public but to tell it as it is and hope that the powers that be would wake up to, and take on, the urgent task of ending the rot in the armed forces, enthrone merit and reward qualifications and proven competence. Dan AgbeseAuthor of Ibrahim Babangida: The Military, Politics and Power in Nigeria