From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo, met on Tuesday with Principal Staff Officers (PSOs), Flag Officers Commanding (FOCs) and Commanders of Autonomous Units of the Nigerian Navy, with a call on them to make the maritime environments unbearable for pirates, crude oil thieves and other maritime criminals.
The CNS, who met with the senior officers for the first time since he took office, used the occasion to unveil his mission statement for the Nigerian Navy: ‘To leverage on all factors of national location, technology, training, teamwork and synergy to re-energise the Nigerian Navy and enhance her as a well-motivated and ready naval force in the discharge of her Constitutional mandate and other assigned tasks in fulfilment of national security objectives.’
Gambo also listed his mission statement to include: ‘To optimise the deployment of the Nigerian Navy in the performance of her Constitutional roles and the undertaking of assigned tasks while promptly responding with commensurate actions to other emerging national security challenges.’
The CNS, who warned that there would be no room for indiscipline and criminal activities under his leadership, said such acts would be met with heavy sanctions to act as a deterrence to others.
He said his overall ambition was to achieve immediate positive transformation in the nation’s security especially in the maritime domain and called for support from all to achieve the desired results.
Addressing the naval top brass at the meeting which held at the Naval Headquarters, Abuja, Gambo, who frowned at the resurgence of incidences of piracy and other criminality in the nations maritime domain, charged the commanders to embark on aggressive clearance operations to clear the menace.
He further directed the commanders to continue with all ongoing operations initiated by his predecessor with a bid to eliminate criminality in Nigeria’s waterways.
Speaking on his vision for the Nigerian navy, Gambo said: ‘The current administration would ensure personnel welfare is accorded high priority towards enhanced patriotism, integrity, productivity, innovation, commitment and dedication.
‘It will also focus on human capacity development through result-oriented training for enhanced professionalism and as well as strengthening logistics support and maintenance capabilities to sustain equipment serviceability and platform availability.
‘As part of the key drivers, the Nigerian Navy under the leadership of Rear Admiral AZ Gambo will reinforce the culture of self-sufficiency through sustained investment in R&D and prudent management of resources, promote inter-service cooperation and forge strategic partnerships with MDAs, credible maritime stakeholders as well as collaboration engagements with international partners.
‘Furthermore, the Service will promote and sustain the Nigerian Navy core values of Integrity, Professionalism and Teamwork.
‘In this regard, the established policies and measures to sanction identified Nigerian Navy personnel that collude with economic saboteurs, drug traffickers/barons, bandits, kidnappers and armed robbers shall be overhauled and strengthened,’ he said.
Related to this, the CNS was quick to warn personnel to avoid any act capable of tarnishing the image of the NN.
‘On the other hand, Nigerian Navy personnel that exhibit high integrity and positive attributes that portray the NN in good light shall be rewarded handsomely.’
He assured that his administration would place a high premium on human capacity development through higher training and education.
Speaking on the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gambo, said that the Nigerian Navy would
give the seriousness it deserves to curb the spread of the virus in the service and called on personnel to adhere to all relevant Nigerian Navy and national protocols to stay safe promised to take issues of personnel welfare seriously.