Provision of platforms, local maintenance strategy have enhanced our operations —CNS

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral I.E Ibas

IMPROVED provision of platforms and the strategy of being able to maintain them locally have been the reasons the Nigerian Navy has been performing creditably on its mandates.

The Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas, made the disclosure at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Nigerian Navy Retreat, held in Sapele, Delta State.

Ibas, who said the event was organised to provide an atmosphere for the navy to deliberate on contemporary issues of concern, observed that the Nigerian Navy had substantially rid the nation’s maritime space of criminal activities.

He noted that most of the successes recently recorded were as a result of the implemented security strategies adopted at the last retreat held in 2015 in Asaba.

Speaking on the improvement in the provisions of platforms, the nava boss said:

“The Nigerian Navy has acquired two brand new OPVs (offshore patrol vessels), several IPCs (inshore patrol crafts), SDBs and RHINs, including the two locally built ones. In addition, the Nigerian Navy has added almost about 200 locally built flat bottom boats for brown water operations.

“In the next few weeks, two more newly built 35 meter SDBs from France would be injected into the NN fleet.

“These acquisitions would greatly enhance NN’s ability to perform its statutory roles.

“It’s important to note that expanding the Nigerian Navy fleet will impose tremendous pressure on available maintenance facilities and capabilities of the NN.

“We may recall the unfortunate state of the NN fleet in the past owing to the near absence of local maintenance industry supports to the fleets when sanctions were placed on the nation.

“As a result, most of these ships in the NN’s inventory at the time did not attain their service life before their unceremonious decommissioning.

“This resulted in the drastic decline in NN Operational effectiveness.”

He, however, charged the force to be ready to do more as increase in acquisition of platforms would mean increase in maintenance in order to sustain the tempo of policing the maritime domain.

Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, who was represented by the Secretary to the Delta State Government, Ovie Agas, pledged the state’s support for the Nigerian Navy.

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David Olagunju