The Nigerian Navy yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to securing the nation’s maritime environment and oil installations at sea as well as other maritime assets.
It said that this was evident in the recent procurement and deployment of some of its equipment and the re-fleeting of its ships.
The Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT, Rear Adm. Okon Eyo, made this known during the commissioning of some projects within the Base Area of Operations in Lagos.
No fewer than 50 projects which were undertaken and completed in the course of his 12 months stay as the Commander of the base were commissioned by the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Habila Ngalabak.
Eyo said that completion of the projects was aimed at safeguarding the nation’s maritime environment.
“The Base has unfortunately been living in deficit of some of the crucial inputs.
“For instance, as a key requirement of a complete Army, this base in its status as a brigade had no functional band.
“Its expanse was in the main replete with worn out looking colonial structures, badly in need of dressing, with the waterfront severely restricted by widespread wrecks.
“What more, most of the available offices were at various states of disrepairs and needed urgent rehabilitation,’’ he said.
The Rear Admiral said: “The Base’s welfare outlets were also similarly affected and this situation had the potential of negatively affecting the administration of personnel and undermining operation.”
Eyo said over 50 projects had been undertaken and completed in the course of 12 months of the command’s tenure, giving an average of over one project per week.
“Three blocks of classrooms and offices at the Nigerian Navy Primary School (NNPS), Okokomaiko and the security booth at Aremu Junction, both are already done with.
“I therefore charge all who would be opportune to use them to do so responsibly, maintain the equipment therein and derive maximum benefit,” he added.
Some of the projects inaugurated were the rehabilitation of offices and construction of facilities like the car park, fleet sustenance, overhaul of platforms and facilitation of expansion and provision of operational logistics.
Others are mitigation of some security concerns, through the provision of a fence to the detention quarters and the NNPS Ojo; and the reconstructed security booth; and a number of other categories including the substantial attention to welfare projects.
