President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday commissioned three Naval ships and 27 patrol boats at the Nigerian Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island, Lagos, pledging the Federal Government’s continuous support to equip the military.
He also urged ingenuity in complementing the government’s efforts by looking inwards to construct and improvise some vital operational tools.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony of the three Naval ships namely:Nigerian Navy Ship UNITY, Nigerian Navy Ship KARADUWA and the Nigerian Navy Tugboat COMMANDER EDWIN UGWU, Buhari commended the Nigerian Navy for building two out of the three ships that were commissioned.
The Nigerian Navy Ship UNITY was built in China, while the KARADUWA as well as the Nigerian Navy Tugboat COMMANDER EDWIN UGWU were constructed in Nigeria.
The President said, “It is most fulfilling to note that our own engineers at the Nigerian Navy Dockyard, Lagos and the Naval Shipyard, Port Harcourt are wholly responsible for the building of the Seaward Defence Boat, Nigerian Navy Ship KARADUWA and the Tugboat COMMANDER EDWIN UGWU, respectively.
“It is also worth noting that NNS UNITY, which is Nigeria’s newest warship, is the second of such acquisitions from the Peoples’ Republic of China.”
According to him, the Nigerian Navy had shown great foresight in nurturing the vision for the NNS Unity and her sister ships, noting that it was comforting that efforts were not confined to using foreign sources alone, but in mobilising local complements.
The president who touched down at the presidential wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport just before noon on Thursday, was received by the state Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
Buhari was accompanied on the visit by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola ,Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral ,Ibot Ette Ibas and army chiefs as well as the Police.
The president’s visit is coming 24 hours after presenting a 7.298 trillion Naira 2017 budget to the joint session of the national assembly in Abuja.
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