Activities to commemorate the Nigerian Navy 68TH Anniversary Celebrations 2024, scheduled to hold from Friday, 24 May – Saturday, 1 June 2024 in Lagos, commenced on Friday, May 2024 with a special Jumaa't prayer at the Mogadishu Central Mosque, Abacha Barracks, Abuja.
It provides an opportunity for the leadership of the mosque led by the Chief Imam, Commander Abdulrahman Yahaman Bello to pray for the Nigerian Navy and offer words of advice and encouragement to all serving personnel of the Nigerian Navy.
In his remarks, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, stressed that, despite the challenges faced by insecurity in the maritime domain, the Nigerian Navy has succeeded in significantly reducing piracy in Nigerian waters in 2022 and has since exited International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) list of Piracy prone areas. Subsequently, the NN has continued to maintain that status and international records show that there has been minimal or no piracy in Nigerian waters since then.
The Naval Cheif ably represented by the Chief of Communication and Technology, Rear Admiral Zakarriya Muhammed noted that one of his cardinal philosophy of his command is the welfare of it's personnel, urged them to continue to rededicate themselves to the service of the Nigeria Navy, to be able to perform his statutory rules which are military roles, policing and diplomatic.
"We are grateful to God that we have observed this special Jumat prayers to mark the 68th anniversary of the Nigerian Navy which is part of the activities to mark the event.
"The policing roles have become very important, in which the Nigerian navy has been contributing in Fight against oil theft, which has enable the country to stabilise the exports business.
"We have grown with a handful of coastal boats into a force to be reckoned with, not only in the West African Sub-region, but also in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) and indeed the entire sub-Saharan Africa.
Speaking on the vision of the Naval Chief, he said "Let me talk about the practical aspect, which is focusing on the welfare of the personnel because the human aspect of the Navy is so important, so that they can better perform the functions that is required of them in discharge of their strategy rules of military policing and diplomatic rules. And of course there have been a lot of platform acquisitions that have been achieved, there being a lot of infrastructures housing for the personnel welfare.
He therefore thanked the President Bola Tinubu and commended his renewed hope agenda and also express the gratitude and Navy for the support It's receiving from the commander in chief of the armed forces, the President Bola Hammed Tunable, GCFR.
On his part, the Chief Imam Naval Unit Abuja, Commander Abdulraman Bello is urged Naval Personnel to be loyal, continuous loyalty to the Chief of Naval Staff and the President of Nigeria, and they should be dedicated in their in their job and their services. He also admonished leaders to carry their subordinates along in all they do.
He prayed for the Nigerian Navy continuous progress. "Actually our Chief of Naval Staff, in fact, he has been trying his best as far as Nigerian Navy is concerned because we have achieved a lot in this very few months. Our hope and aspiration is that God Almighty to continue to assist him in all his endeavours.
SpyeTV News reports that, the Navy Week Celebration which started today with a special Jumaat service as with others in the past, also serve as a score-card of the Nigerian Navy's performance in the service of our dear nation.
There will be Interdenominational Church Service on Sunday, 26 May 24, a medical Rhapsodies and Naval Officers’ Wives Association Activities (NOWA) will hold simultaneously on Monday, 27 May 2024 in some NN host communities across Commands. On Wed 29 May 24, there would be an ice-breaker at Eko Hotel and Suites Lagos.
Meanwhile thhe highpoint of this year’s celebration will be the flag-off of the Regional Maritime Exercise and the International Maritime Conference by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu who will be the Special Guest of Honour.
The REMEX, which is scheduled to hold from Thursday, 30 May – Saturday, 1 June 2024, is an international maritime sea exercise involving navies from Africa, Europe, Asia, North and South America.
The Nigerian Navy will contribute 18 platforms comprising capital ships, boats and helicopters. Some of the foreign naval ships participating include Brazilian Navy Ship APA, Cameroonian Navy Ship DIPIKAR, Peoples Liberation Army Navy Ship XU CHANG, French Navy Ship OSV COMMANDANT BIROT, Ghana Navy Ship CHEMLE, United States Ship HERSHEL WOODY WILLIAMS.
The IMC will take place from 30 – 31 May 24 at the Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island Lagos. The IMC which aims to catalyse effective cooperation on maritime security across Africa as a key driver for unlocking the continent’s immense Blue Economy potential in line with the vision of the 2050 African Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS) has as its theme Promoting the Blue Economy in Africa through International Cooperation on Maritime Security will feature the presentation of 2 topical papers.
The Conference will host delegations from about 21 African countries, 17 non-African countries and 13 International/regional organisations. Notably, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the French Atlantic Fleet, the Deputy Commander of the Chinese Navy and high- powered delegations from the United Kingdom, United States as well as some African and European Union countries will be in attendance.
During the occasion, the President and C-in -C will also commission 3 newly acquired ships and 2 helicopters as well as declare open the International Maritime Exhibition in which international and local maritime security related companies will show case their products and services.
On the side line, the Meeting of Gulf of Guinea Heads of Navies and Coast Guards will take place on 31 May 24. The series of activities marking the Navy Week Celebration will be rounded off on 1 Jun 2024 with the commissioning of the International Maritime Institute of Nigeria (IMION) and the Ceremonial Sunset/ Reunion Dinner at NNS QUORRA Apapa and Naval Dockyard Limited Victoria Island respectively.
