Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas

Ayorinde Oluokun.

Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), in one of his first major policy and administrative decisions, has unveiled Navy Strategic Directive 2015-1, to provide 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 Naval Chief made the disclosure at the Naval Headquarters, Abuja where he stressed that the consultations and interactions he had with the Principal Staff Officers, Flag Officers Commanding, Commands of Autonomous Units, and all strata of the Navy, coupled with various briefs formed the foundation upon which the strategic Directive 2015-1 was based.

According to him, “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 development 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 to do things