President Goodluck Jonathan has categorically said that the military will rout the Boko Haram insurgents and make the atmosphere in the North East conducive for elections on March 28, 2015.
The President who spoke at the commissioning of four warships for the Nigerian Navy, further said that government will ensure that elections are conducted in areas currently seized by the insurgents.
He assured that those areas will be liberated before elections on March 28, 2015, adding that, “we will leave no stone unturn to improve the capacity of the Nigerian Armed Forces, we have improve the technical capacity of the army and we work in harmony with the service chiefs to ensure that the country does not disintegrate.”
According to President Jonathan the 2015 general elections must hold on scheduled dates, adding that activities of the extremists will not affect elections .
At moment, President Jonathan said that the capacity of the military to fight the insurgents is being increased and that the officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces are doing well to ensure that the situation in the north east is brought under control.
He said in line with his transformation agenda and the vision of Nigeria becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020, “premium is placed on improved national security including provision of food security and 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 for effective maritime security an imperative.”
He said that there is improvement in the policing of the maritime sector by the Nigerian Navy, especially as the volume of crude oil stolen from the country’s oil well is reducing, “despite willful vandalism of pipelines” within the oil producing areas.
His words: “I am glad to particularly note the achievement of the Ngierian Navy in the fight against oil theft and other maritime crimes, The contribution of the navy towards the fight against insurgency and instability in parts of the country are equally highly appreciated.”
Earlier, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin spoke on the importance of the vessels being commissioned to Nigerian Navy and the country, adding that “Nigeria as a littoral nation depends largely on the sea for her revenue earnings. The Nigerian navy being the principal agency charged with maritime security had been faced with the challenge of inadequate and ageing platform in its quest to effectively meet the maritime security needs of the nation.”
Admiral Jibrin said NNS OKPABANA acquired from the United States of America under the US Excess Defence Article programme which enables friends and partners of the US to procure their surplus military hardware.
The second vessel, NNS PROSPERITY, according to him was a former Irish Navy vessel which was acquired purposely for the training of young sailors, in line with the CNS leadership’s prioritization of training as a strategy for enhancing overall operational efficiency of the force.
The NNS CENTENRY is said is one of the two offshore patrol vessels acquired from China, while NNS SAGBAMA was donated to Nigeria by the Chinese government in appreciation of the twin acquisition.
Admiral Jibrin said that the platforms will contribute substantially to the capacity of the Nigerian Navy to effectively patrol the country’s waters and support the nation’s foreign policy objectives
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