Jonathan Commissions Four Warships for Navy

The war ships are Navy Ship Okpabana acquired from the United States,  Navy Ship Prosperity, a former Irish Navy fishery patrol boat,  acquired for training,  Navy Ship Centenary, procured from China and Navy Ship Sagbama donated by Peoples Republic of China.

Speaking at the event in Lagos, Jonathan said the four warships are part of the six expected in the country before year end.

“The four ships being commissioned today are part of a total of six ships expected to be commissioned into the Nigerian Navy Fleet in 2015. I am confident that this event represents a furtherance of continued cooperation between Nigeria, the United States of America and China in the area of maritime security”, he said. He expressed confident that the event represents a furtherance of continued cooperation between Nigeria, the United States of America and China in the area of maritime security.

“Permit me to use this occasion to express the desire of this administration to see more progress in our cooperation, to the mutual benefit of our respective countries”, he said.

He explained that the event gives  him opportunity to once again reaffirm his confidence in the competence and commitment of the officers, ratings and civilian staff of the Nigerian Navy.

“I am glad to particularly note the achievements of the Navy in the fight against oil theft and other maritime crimes.  I wish to reassure the Navy that this administration will not waiver in its support to the on-going capacity building effort we have started”, he said and attributed the  event to his administration’s Transformation Agenda and vision of becoming one of the leading economies in the world.

To achieve this, he said premium is placed on improved national security.  This includes food security as well as employment generation.

“The high dependence of the nation’s economy on offshore resources, as well as the enormous potentials of the maritime sector to contribute to our food security and employment generation, makes provision of effective maritime security very imperative. Therefore, the Nigerian Navy, as the lead maritime security agency, deserves all the support it needs, to effectively carry out its statutory roles.

“ In this regard, and in spite of other pressing demands, my administration has continued to support the fleet recapitalization objective of the Nigerian Navy Transformation Plan 2010 – 2020, which was formulated to support the realization of the goals of the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda”, he said.