The donation is coming even as the All Progressives Congress, APC, has asked Nigerians to use their votes to express their dissatisfaction with President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged inability to fight corruption and insecurity which were the two major challenges facing the country in the last six years.
However, the warship earlier known as the United States Coast Guard Gallatin ,USCGG was designed as a high endurance cutter. The ship which was completely overhauled in Charleston, South Carolina, USA, with about $8 million (about N1.34billion) had already been renamed as NNS Okpabana by the Nigerian Navy.
The ship was formally received by the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jubrin and other top government officials at the Nigerian Navy Dockyard at about 11am yesterday amid pomp and festivity.
In his remarks at the occasion, Vice Admiral Jubrin said that NNS Okpabana was the second of the Hamilton class of cutters to join the Nigerian Navy fleet between 2012 and 2014.
According to him, the first one , NNS Thunder had assisted the Navy in curtailing threats in the nation;’s maritime domain and the Gulf of Guinea.
He expressed optimism that the additional warship would not only bolster the Navy’s zeal by addressing the menace in the nation’s maritime domain and the Gulf of Guinea but also support regional and global efforts to eliminate tarns-national maritime threats.
“It is common knowledge that littoral nations, in addition to the numerous benefits they derive from sea resources , also experience challenges or threats within their maritime domain. In the case of Nigeria, the maritime domain is threatened by crude oil theft , unreported and unregulated fishing, smuggling, arms proliferation, and sea robbery/piracy among others.
‘’In recognition of these challenges and in consonance with the on-going transformation agenda of the federal government of |Nigeria, the Navy evolved the transformation plan 2010-2020 with a view to enhancing its operational capability and discharging its statutory role effectively and efficiently in the coming years.
‘’One of the pillars of the transformation is fleet renewal which focuses on new acquisition and maintenance of ships in our fleet. The actualisation of the plan can only be achieved with the support of the people and Federal Government as well as our foreign partners and allies such as the U.S.A,’’ he said.
Describing the arrival of the ship as a manifestation of the determination of the Federal Government and the USA to rid the country’s territorial waters of thieves and vandals, Jubrin assured that with such gesture, the Navy would be better positioned to guarantee security in the nation’s maritime domain, with a view to boosting trade and commerce necessary for a strong national economy.
The U.S Consul General, Jeff Hawkins who also spoke on the occasion said that the war ship was given to support Nigeria counter criminalities in the region.
“Many of the region’s challenges come from the sea and this powerful new naval platform will significantly enhance Nigeria’s ability to control the maritime environment. The Okpabana, like the NNS Thunder before her, strongly demonstrates America’s commitment to enhancing Nigeria’s security.
“”We work closely with this country’s Navy and and with all of Nigeria’s service arms, to counter threats to Nigerian and African security. We have a common interest in a peaceful, well policed Gulf of Guinea and support from the USA significantly increases Nigeria’s ability to reach this shared goal”
The Gulf of Guinea had reportedly recorded a leap in violent crimes by sea pirates leading to loss of lives and hijack of vessels.
For instance, report by the the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence revealed recently a 25 percent increase in incidents such as vessels being fired upon, boarded and hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, between 2012 and 2013 alone.
Meanwhile, the APC has urged Nigerians to use their votes to express their dissatisfaction with President Goodluck Jonathan for his inability to fight the two main challenges facing the country, corruption and security, despite having six years to do so.
According to the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, ‘’The President has finally admitted that the two main challenges facing the country are corruption and insecurity, and seems to be telling Nigerians to give him more time to tackle the problems. But the truth is that he lacks the capacity to fight and defeat these challenges, whether in six or 10 years.
‘’A President who has spent the last six years trying to diagnose the main problems facing the country will apparently need another four years to plan how to tackle the challenges. By then, all of us would have been buried under the rubble of corruption and our country would have been decimated by insecurity. It is therefore time for Nigerians to vote in a President who will hit the ground running, a President who will tackle the problems of corruption and insecurity headlong, without giving excuses for failure.
‘’Mr. President said he wants to put in place the institutions to tackle corruption before taking on the canker worm that has almost destroyed the fabric of our society. Pray, whatever happened to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC? Were they not institutions specifically created for the purpose of tackling corruption, but which the Jonathan administration chose to castrate?
‘’There is no better way to say this: President Jonathan lacks the political will to tackle corruption and he will not tackle it if he spends 60 years in office.’’
It also said the President missed a golden opportunity to take on and defeat the Boko Haram insurgency in its early stages but instead chose to engage in shadow boxing.
‘’When he was not blaming everyone but his administration for the insurgency, he was playing primordial politics with it, to such an extent that the terrorists became strengthened and emboldened to strike at times and places of their own choosing.
‘’Had the President learnt a lesson or two from the crushing defeat of the Maitatsine sect by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, which signalled the death knell of the sect that is a precursor of Boko Haram, the insurgency that is daily claiming the lives of our citizens would have been defeated early on.
‘’It is too late in the day for President Jonathan to engage in sophistry over the twin evil of corruption and insecurity. He has reached the limit of his capacity to tackle these challenges and it is time to allow those with necessary political will and capacity to take on the challenges before they crush the country,’’ APC further stated.
Reacting to APC’s statement, the Special Adviser to President Jonathan on Media Matters, Dr. Reuben Abati, said Lai Mohammed’s statement was one of his habitual nonsense.
“It is a pity that Lai Mohammed is starting off in the new year mounting his habitual nonsense. Anybody who listened carefully to the president and has followed the activities of government closely will see very clearly that his administration is committed to fighting insurgence and corruption.
“ Has also shown political will in strengthening the security process to deepen the capacity to win the war against terror.
“Many of our security agents have had to pay the supreme sacrifice in waging this war.
When Lai Mohammed talks glibly about the efforts of government, he insults the memory and heroism of these patriots. President Jonathan has always appealed to the opposition not to play politics with issues of national security. Obviously, politics and personal ambition are more important to Lai Mohammed and his masters.
On corurption, Abati said: “this administration is committed to fighting corruption and has always done so. By bringing up the issue in his new year message, the president was re-emphasising the importance of the war against corruption.
But characteristically, he and his masters saw in that an opportunity to play cheap politics.
“The president had advised the political class to be civil, state-manly and patriotic, but less than 48 hours later, Lai Mohammed chose to be uncivil and uncouth. We hope that this is not the style of campaign that the APC has chosen to deploy for the 2015 election.”