PHOTOS: President Reviews Naval Fleet, Assures Nigerian Navy Of Support

PHOTO: PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN INSPECTS A NAVAL PARADE IN APAPA, LAGOS TODAY, SEPT 29, 2010. PHOTO: STATE HOUSE.

LAGOS, Sept 29, (THEWILL) - President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan today said the Nigerian Navy "requires adequate platforms and support to enable it police the country’s territorial waters, exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and high sea considering the strategic values of the country’s maritime domain."

Jonathan said this at the Presidential Fleet Review, which the Nigerian Navy organised in NNS Beecroft, Naval Base in Apapa, Lagos to mark the 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s freedom from British colonial rule.

The president acknowledged the crucial roles the Nigerian Navy is playing in the country, pledging that the federal government would "enhance the country’s naval capability and platform for effective and efficient maritime policing and surveillance."

Jonathan observed that the operational capability of the Nigerian Navy "has been low from the inception. This deficit will not guarantee the effective protection of strategic economic resources deposited in the country’s territorial waters, exclusive economic zones and high sea.

Consequently, he said there "is need to police Nigeria’s maritime domain because the domain contains the country’s economic base. Our main source of income is oil, which is not on land, but on the sea. That makes the role of the Nigerian Navy very crucial because the naval operatives and institution have the constitutional responsibility of policing and protecting the country’s maritime zone and its strategic resources."

The President said the "Nigerian Navy should not be allowed to operate in an obsolete platform. As result, we will make sure that the operational capability and human capacity of our naval institution are enhanced. We will make sure that the Nigerian Navy is properly equipped to discharge its responsibilities."

Speaking on the 50th anniversary, Jonathan said the purpose of the celebration "is to look at where we have done well as country in the last five decades and where we have not done well so that we can improve."

Present at the review were the Minister for Defence, Chief Adetokunbo Kayode; Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Murtala Shehu Yar’Adua; Minister for Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall O Petinrin; and Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibrahim among others.

Former Chiefs of Naval Staff including Vice Admiral Jubril Ayinla, Vice Marshal Augustus Aikhomu, Vice Admiral Allison Maduekwe, Vice Admiral Samuel Afolayan and Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe among others graced the presidential fleet review, which the 5th in the history of the Nigerian Navy.

Strategic naval officers from of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone and South Africa also attended the fleet review alongside seasoned diplomats from both western and African countries.

A presidential fleet review is an event where the whole of a fleet is paraded and reviewed by the President and Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces. The first known recorded history of fleet review was traced to the sixteenth century when King Henry of England "was said to have carried out an impromptu fleet review."

But in Nigeria, the tradition started on September 1, 1981 when former President Shehu Shagari reviewed the Nigerian Navy fleet and presented new colours to the naval institution. Since then, the Nigerian Navy had successfully organised three additional presidential fleet reviews, which took place on August 12, 1987, September 23, 1992 and June 2, 2006.

The 2010 presidential fleet review involved 7 Nigerian Navy warships, Augusta Helicopters and a maritime patrol aircraft belonging to the Nigeria Air Force.

The Nigerian warships that participated include NNS ARADU, NNS KYANWA, NNS NWAMBA, NNS OBULA, NNS ZARIA, NNS BURUTU and NNS MAKURDI.

Two foreign warships were also on parade namely; HMS OCEAN from the Royal Navy, United Kingdom and CDT BLAISON from the French Navy.