Nigerian Navy Celebrates 63rd Anniversary on May 22 – June 1, Says Activities will be low Keyed
Oru Leonard
The Nigerian Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral I. E. Ibas, has said that the programme for the 63rd anniversary celebrations will be low keyed but will cover Policy Thrust of the Nigerian Navy (NN), operational achievements from 2015 till date.
This was disclosed by the Chief of Policy and Plans of the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Bee Ibe-Enwo who represented the CNS during a press briefing at Abuja.
Mr Ibe-Enwo said that the objective of this Briefing is to acquaint Nigerians with the focus of the NN and the programme for the 63rd anniversary celebrations.
“It has been the desire of the NN to have an impressive fleet of operational ships manned by competent and motivated personnel. To this end, the CNS on assumption of office placed a high premium on availability of operational ships, training and motivation of personnel. Accordingly, the NN has been conducting qualitative training, both locally and internationally for enhanced professionalism. Additionally, the NN training schools are being affiliated with tertiary institutions and relevant professional schools as well as other accreditation bodies in the country.
“On availability of operational ships, permit me to say that the Federal Government has assisted the NN to take delivery of several ships recently including Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), Patrol Crafts and a training ship. As part of NN’s efforts to motivate the personnel for enhanced output, welfare programmes including the renovation and construction of barracks’ accommodation are also ongoing” he explained.
Vice Admiral Bee noted that Nigeria has a coastline of about 420nm and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that extends 200nm from the coast totalling about 84,000 sq nm of sea area, will likely increase as Nigeria’s claim for an extended continental shelf is gaining traction.
According to him, “Nigeria relies on the sea for about 90 per cent of its import and export with oil being a major part of the trade. Nigeria’s maritime area of interest includes the entire Gulf of Guinea (GoG), with a total coastline of about 2,874nm translating to a maritime area of approximately 574,800sqnm. “This maritime area with its networks of oil and gas installations as well as associated shipping are threatened by maritime crimes such as piracy/sea robbery, crude oil theft, illegal oil bunkering, Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF), insurgency and hostage taking. Hence, insecurity in Nigeria’s maritime domain becomes a major source of concern due to its impact on national security and prosperity.
“The NN was established in 1958 to among others, provide the enabling secure environment for economic activities to thrive in the maritime environment. Since the commencement of the current leadership of the NN in 2015, significant gains have been made in providing a secure maritime environment leading to increased output in maritime trade, particularly oil production. It is imperative to state that the gains need to be sustained against the backdrop of an observed trend of threat migration, especially with regards to incessant illegal refining of crude oil as well as piracy/sea robbery attacks.
“During the period in focus, NN arrested a total of 25 smuggling boats cumulatively laden with a total of 26,984 bags of rice out of which about 5,500 were arrested this year. The anti-smuggling operations led to the arrest of a total of 197 suspected smugglers operating in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. Accordingly, the arrested smugglers, boats and products were handed over to Nigeria Customs Service for appropriate action. The achievements of the NN in curbing smuggling activities is attributed to the renewed drive towards eradicating rice smuggling in support of the FG policy on local rice production.
“The maritime threats that have significant effects in Nigeria’s maritime environment are piracy, smuggling, IUUF, crude oil theft and drug trafficking. Piracy has continued to threaten maritime commerce in Nigeria’s waters particularly with the disturbing trend of kidnapping of ships’ crew for ransom. This has negatively affected shipping costs and insurance premiums, which result in higher costs of goods, and shipping services. Smuggling is also another anti-economic threat that negatively exploits the vastness of Nigeria’s maritime environment to facilitate importation of contraband goods that have ripple effects on local productivity. The menace of IUUF is another worrisome threat to Nigeria’s economic prosperity, more so that the fishery regulatory agencies lack the capacity to monitor this crime adequately. Another major maritime threat to Nigeria is the crime of crude oil theft carried out by a wide and complex network of criminality that exploits local demographic and environmental cues. There are also the issues of drug trafficking, which has the potential to become a significant threat considering the wide expanse of Nigeria’s maritime environment and its contiguity to other states in West Africa.
“Since the introduction of the Choke Point Control Regime, several arrests have been made, leading to the destruction of barges and other vessels used for conveying stolen crude oil as well as illegally refined products.”
He noted that the success of these NN operations was attested to by the management of NNPC in its report on pipeline losses between 2008
and 2017 as highlighted on the screen. The report estimated the total product losses due to pipeline vandalism at N21.48 billion, N38.88 billion, N44.75 billion and N51.28 billion in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively. However, in 2016 and 2017, the losses due to pipeline vandalism were N2.67 billion and N4.11 billion respectively. This marked reduction is largely attributable to the introduction of the Choke Point regime and Op RIVER SWEEP. Notwithstanding the operational success of the operations, there is the need for NNPC to impress on the oil companies to emplace more effective surveillance/monitoring mechanisms on their crude oil pipeline networks.
The NN 63rd anniversary celebration, which will be low keyed, is been flagged off with media briefing on Wednesday, May 21, 2019, at the Naval Headquarters. Juma’at Prayers and Inter-denominational Church services are also programmed to hold in all naval commands on 24 and 26 May respectively. Medical outreaches would be conducted in all NN Commands from 27-28 May. Ships will be opened to visitors from 27-29 May, which will be followed by a sea trip on 30 May. Various projects will be commissioned on 31 May. The last in the series of activities lined up for the NN 63rd Anniversary is the Ceremonial Sunset and Awards to deserving personnel, which will take place at Naval Dockyard Limited, Victoria Island, Lagos on 1 Jun 19.
The Ceremonial Sunset is one of the oldest, colourful and significant naval ceremonies that usually mark the conclusion of special events. In keeping with tradition, the Ceremonial Sunset will include a display of the Ceremonial Band of the NN and a salute to the lowering of the Ensign. It is pertinent to state that throughout the period of the NN 63rd Anniversary Celebration and as operational demands would permit, all capital ships of the NN will be dressed overall with flags and be lit at night.
