The Navy has unveiled Navy Strategic Directive 2015-1, aimed at providing adequate security in the maritime sector, ensure effective monitoring of the nation’s waterways and sustain its effort to maintain credible presence at sea.
The strategy which is the first major policy of Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, who was recently appointed by president Muhammadu Buhari, is the outcome of the consultations and interactions with the Principal Staff Officers, Flag Officers Commanding, Commands of Autonomous Units, and all strata of the Navy.
“this strategic Directive is set out to guide the attainment of Nigerian Navy(NN) goals in areas considered critical to effectiveness of NN operational, logistics and administrative process and procedures”.
The CNS noted that, “having identified where the challenges are, I thought I should come out with a directive which will guide all the commanders in ensuring that if the NN goals are to be achieved, we have to have certain direction”.
The Naval Chief said among other objectives it set to achieve include; ensuring naval operations conform to standard operating procedures and global best practices, and promoting NN manpower develop to achieve optimal professional capability of personnel.
He explained further that the navy would deepen collaboration with maritime stakeholders, other agencies and international partners to ensure the laid out objectives are achieved.
Ibas also revealed that one of the areas critical to the Navy’s effectiveness was the operational area. He stressed: “The ability to maintain credible presence at sea and of course if we have to maintain credible presence at sea we have to use ships, we don’t have money to buy ships, the few ships we have we are to make sure that they are able to move, and they are able to fight if necessary.”
Due to the fact that revenue accrued to the various MDAs are on the decline, the CNS emphasised the need for the navy to reprioritise its goals, and also to change the way it do things.
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