President Goodluck Jonathan
said in Lagos on Thursday that the Federal Government was working hard
to improve the capacity of the Armed Forces to fight insecurity.
The president said this at the inauguration of four Navy ships: Okpabana, Centenary, Sagbama and Prosperity; at the Naval Dockyard limited, Victoria Island, Lagos.
He
said his administration would rout Boko Haram and conduct elections as
scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“So,
Nigerians can see that the present administration is leaving no stone
unturned to improve the capacity of our armed forces, not just the Navy
but also the Army and the Air Force.
We
have built sufficient capacity. And let me also use this platform to
promise good country men and women that we would rout Boko Haram.
Our capacity has increased sufficiently and our officers and men are doing wonderfully well in the North.
And
we must conduct our elections as scheduled by INEC, because within this
period we are convinced that we will return the North to the level
where the activities of extremists will not affect our elections.
They are working hard day and night and I directed that Nigerians should be briefed regularly.’’
The
president said that his administration placed much premium on national
security in its drive to become one of the leading economies in the
world.
“In line with my
administration’s Transformation Agenda and our vision of becoming one of
the leading economies in the world, 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 potential of the maritime sector to contribute to our
food security and employment generation make provision of effective
maritime security very imperative.
Therefore,
the Nigerian Navy, as the lead maritime agency, deserves all the
support it needs to effectively carry out its statutory roles.
In
this regard and in spite of other pressing demands, this administration
has continued to support the fleet capitalisation objective of the
Nigerian Navy transformation plan of 2010 to 2020, which was formulated
to support the realisation of the goals of the Federal Government’s
Transformation Agenda, especially in the security sector.
The
four ships being commissioned today are part of a total of six ships
expected to be commissioned into the Nigerian Navy fleet by 2015.’’
Jonathan
further reaffirmed the administration’s confidence in the ability of
the Nigerian Navy to fight oil theft and other maritime crimes.
According
to him, the level of oil theft has not abated but vandalism of
pipelines in the coastal regions has reduced drastically.
He said that the four ships inaugurated were the highest performed by any administration since Shehu Shagari’s administration inaugurated three at once during the second republic.
The
president also commended the collaboration among the U.S., Peoples
Republic of China and the Federal Government of Nigeria to fight
insecurity, adding that his administration would not waiver in its
support to the armed forces.
Earlier, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jubrin,
said that in line with the Transformation Agenda of the Federal
Government, the Nigerian Navy formulated its transformation plan from
2011 to 2020 with fleet capitalisation as its target.
He said that the Navy had been dogged by inadequate facility to contain the security challenges.
Jubrin,
however, commended the Jonathan administration for its huge investment
in security which he admitted was the highest by any administration.
The
Naval chief said that additional eight small craft were expected to
join the fleet before the end of 2015 in support of the naval efforts in
ensuring maritime security.
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