Onungwe Obe in Yenagoa
The House of Representatives Committee on the Navy has called for improved funding of military commands in Nigeria giving the arduous task the military personnel face daily to maintain the territorial integrity of the country.
The call was made by the Chairman of the committee, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, who led the committee members on an oversight visit to the Central Naval Command (CNC) headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State yesterday.
He lauded the CNC for its professionalism, discipline and prudent management of resources, saying the navy has done very well with the little resources at its disposal.
The committee chairman, who later inspected facilities at the command, lamented the dearth of infrastructure at the command headquarters.
According to him, “The navy has done incredibly well. In terms of the little resources made available to you, the quality of the projects is highly commendable.
“But going round the Central Naval Command, particularly the headquarters, I am surprised by the number of issues they have here.
“This is a command with the least number of facilities and the issue of accommodation has been coming up in the last two years. The nature of the environment requires a lot of capital allocation to sand fill it before roads are constructed.”
Gagbi, noted that the location of the naval command in Bayelsa State, with its huge economic potential, should get better attention than it is getting now.
The Field Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command (CNC), Real Admiral Shehu Garba, said the CNC has been able to slow down the level of criminality in the Niger Delta region.
He said: “I wish to state that with the fluidity of the happenings in the country’s maritime environment, the CNC, which was established in 2012, has continued to reduce maritime ills by conducting rigorous routine naval operations and mounting dedicated operations to meet specific mandates.
“As the youngest command with the youngest bases, much work has also been done to improve on the operational efficiency and welfare of naval personnel in the area which you will soon be briefed on.
“I have no doubt that the Nigerian navy and indeed the armed forces of
Nigeria will benefit immensely from your oversight visit to the navy formations in this area.”
