Chief of Naval Staff Begs For Increased Funding for the Navy

Posted by Thandiubani on Thu 15th Oct, 2015 - tori.ng

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice. Adm. Ibok-Ete Ibas has called on the government to support the Navy with increased funding.

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Ibok-Ete Ibas

Vice Adm. Ibok-Ete Ibas, Chief of Naval Staff at the Navy Headquarters in Abuja called for increased funding for the Nigerian Navy to enable it acquire more ships to enhance maritime safety.

He made the call while hosting the Managing Director, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. (LNG), Mr. Babs Omotowa.

Ibas also stressed on the importance of upgrading its infrastructure so as to improve its operations. He said, “I talked about poor funding for the Navy and with poor funding you cannot get what is required to carry on with your duties.

“ For us we need capitalisation, we have been shouting about it.

“ Capitalisation means we need to buy more vessels to be able to patrol our maritime environment effectively.

“ Those are the areas I am asking the LNG to come in and support us, we need ships, and we need infrastructure.“

Reacting to the call, Omotowa commended the Nigerian Navy for the part it has played in supporting his organization for the past 25 years and prayed for more cooperation. He also expressed his organisation's determination of their continued support of the Nigerian Navy in discharging its duties.

Omotowa said, “The chief of naval staff has mentioned a couple of areas in terms of capacity building and infrastructure upgrade, these are things we are going to look into.

“ We are so appreciative of the Nigerian Navy for the support we have been getting in more than our 25 years of our operation.

“ Without the support of the Nigerian Navy all the contributions that we make today will truly not be possible.“

Omotowa said his organization is happy for the continued partnership with the Navy and its protection.