Alily was born 20 September 1960 at the Island Maternity Hospital in Lagos Island to Major Ohawady and Regina “Queen” Alily. Following the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War, his family relocated to their home town of Lorji in Aboh-Mbaise of Imo State. He attended Lorji Community School for his primary education. From 1973 to 1978, he attended the Nigerian Military School, Zaria, Kaduna State for his secondary education.
As a seaman officer, Alily held several appointments, ashore and afloat. Some of these included watch keeping duties on board the Navy’s Fast Attack Craft - NNS AGU, AYAM and SIRI. He was the Aide-de-Camp to the Military Governor Imo State. He was also the Navigating Officer of NNS ERIN-OMI, corvette, which was deployed to Liberia for Peace Support Operations under the auspices of the ECOWAS Monitoring Group Naval Task Force. In addition, Alily was the Executive Officer of NNS ENYIMIRI, another Corvette. He was an Instructor and later, Officer-in-Charge, Navigation and Direction School, Apapa, Lagos. He held the appointments as Officer in-Charge Directorate of Naval Intelligence Annex, Apapa as well as Staff Officer Intelligence at the Naval Headquarters. In 1998, he was appointed Deputy Director of Research and Development, Defence Intelligence Agency. Furthermore, from 1999-2002, Alily was appointed as the Naval Attaché of the Embassy of Nigeria, Washington, D.C. On return to Nigeria, he served briefly as the Staff Officer Plans at the Policy and Plans Branch of the Nigerian Naval Headquarters in Abuja, and returned to the United States for sea command. Alily Commanded NNS Kyanwa, an auxiliary employed for maritime law enforcement and surveillance in the Niger Delta maritime area from 2002 to 2004. As the pioneer Commanding Officer of NNS Kynanwa, he joined the ship in Homer, Alaska, took over command in San Pedro, California and sailed to Lagos, Nigeria. Similarly, for command ashore, he commanded NNS Beecroft, Nigerian Navy's premier operational shore base from 14 June 2004 to 26 August 2005. After both commands, he was posted to the Nigerian Defence Academy as the Principal Staff Officer.
Premature Retirement
Alily was prematurely retired from the Nigerian Navy on 12 March 2007 while at the War College during the administration of Vice Admiral GTA Adekeye. A highly controversial and contentious retirement, it was challenged in court. On 4 October 2013, the National Industrial Court presided by Justice BA Adejumo ruled that his retirement was illegal and unlawful, rendering it null and void. The court ordered his reinstatement into service, but Alily opted to voluntarily retire.
Personal life
George Alily was born to the family of Major Felix Ohawady and Queen Regina Alily of Lorji, Aboh-Mbaise. He comes from a family of six siblings, three brothers and two sisters. His father was an army officer while his mother was a home maker. Alily comes from a family of military service. Apart from his father who was a military officer, his eldest brother is a retired Brigadier-General. He also has close relatives who served in the military. He is married to Grace Chizomam, a lawyer and social advocate. They were married on April 9, 1988, and have two sons, George Nkemakolam “Kem” and Chijioke “Chiji” Kelechi.
Literary works
Alily has written many articles for newspapers and other publications. He is the author of two books titled and Defining Persona: 6 virtues that Transform Societies.
