President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged unabated support to the Nigerian Navy’s regional collaborative efforts to secure the Gulf of Guinea for enhanced economic development.
In a signed statement by the Special Assistant to the Minister of Defence on Media and Publicity, Mohammad Abdulkadri, made available to Channel Network Afrique, CNA, the Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen Bashir Magashi
(rtd) who represented president Buhari, gave the pledge at the opening ceremony of the International Maritime Conference held at the Onne Port Multi- Purpose Center, Federal Ocean Terminal, River State.
He said the Conference which is to commemorate the sixty – sixth Anniversary of the Nigerian Navy potents a veritable platform to espouse measures to mitigate what he refered to as an increasing vulnerabilities in African Waters especially in the Gulf of Guinea.
President Buhari acknowledged the role of the Nigerian Navy as a cardinal agency in the nation’s maritime sector that has developed into a big force to be reckoned with among Navies of the World.
In his opening remarks, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo who disclosed the theme of the conference “Optimizing Collaboration for Maritime Security and Socio – Economic Development in Africa” said is expected to elicit analytical discuss among participants on how best to deal with common Maritime challenges.
He noted that the huge attendance at the Conference is a prove of the collaborative commitments of Navies of the World towards defining mechanism to tackle current threats in the Gulf of Guinea which he described as transnational in nature.
He said the complexity of the threats require the coming together of lethoral states for enhanced capabilities to win the war against infractions in the regional Maritime domains.
The opening ceremony which was attended by the Nigeria’s Serving and retired Chiefs of Defence Staff, the Service Chiefs as well as their foreign counterparts and members of the diplomatic communities and corporate partners of the Navies of the world dovetailed into goodwill messages, tour of exhibition stands and presentation of papers as well as discussion sessions.