By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, on Tuesday restated the commitment of the Nigerian Navy towards realising the objectives of the newly created Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President.
Vice-Admiral stated this during his meeting with key maritime stakeholders at the Naval Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
He said the Nigerian Navy has identified the whole-of-society approach as one of the keys to curbing security challenges facing the maritime environment in the country.
According to him “This is part of the approach to national security, which is in line with the modern concept of security.”
The CNS noted that collective efforts are required to create a conducive environment for increased production and increased economic activities.
The Naval Chief said that “for the past sixty-seven months under his leadership, he has steered the Nigerian Navy towards ensuring maritime security by conducting several operations and placing policies aimed at boosting crude oil production and curbing the menace of oil theft, which would not have been possible without their sincere understanding, cooperation and support.”
According to him, the Nigerian Navy has thus recorded some successes through various operations and bilateral engagements to attain its strategic goals.
He said that “in the realisation of the need to consolidate on gains recorded in the various operations, they have deemed it imperative for them all to jointly look at the salient issues bothering maritime security, ease of doing maritime businesses and observance of operational procedures, among others, for enhanced national security and economic prosperity.
“This meeting is therefore one of the regular engagements with the NN, aimed at fostering common understanding, synergy and mutual trust among maritime stakeholders,” he said.
Accordingly, the meeting will focus on addressing some pertinent concerns that will strengthen our partnerships and working relationships so that we will all benefit optimally from the maritime environment and foster the nation’s blue economy for Nigeria’s national development.
Vice Admiral Ogalla reassured Nigerians that the Nigerian Navy is committed to creating the enabling environment for legitimate maritime activities to thrive.
He noted that with the crop of sound and progressive minds present at the meeting, he is optimistic that their deliberations will advance their common comprehension of what is required of them all to contribute meaningfully towards realising the objectives of the newly created Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President.
He acknowledged the unflinching support of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, who has readily provided the needed resources and moral support needed by the Nigerian Navy to seamlessly deliver on its constitutional mandate.
Earlier, the Chief of Policy and Plans, Rear Admiral Joseph Akpan, said that given this in the maritime environment, as the head of the lead agency in this critical sector of the economy, the Chief of Naval Staff thought it wise to invite all of them to review operations, procedures, and outcomes to identify areas that require adjustment for better performance as a service.
He noted that the practice of feedback in the form of performance indicators is an avenue for them to foster understanding collaborations and set new standards with a view to judging the way forward.
“I believe that this will help us civilise the maritime environment and social economic development. I’m therefore optimistic that the time spent here will be watching the wire,” he said.
He urged them to feel free to bet their minds and make corrections and contributions in good faith with the permission of a team of other staff who will say that no holds barred in this discussion because they want to interact with the stakeholders and get to the root of matters that are evolving so that they can have better operations in a maritime space.
