Rededicate yourselves to service of Nigeria, naval officers told

Philip Nwosu, Lagos

Nigerian Navy personnel have been tasked to ensure that they work for the uplift of the country and to be conscious of their responsibilities, especially as they perform their role of protecting the country’s oil facilities.

Former Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command Rear Admiral Peter Adeniyi, who admonished officers and men of the force, said the Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC) remains the base where the human resource of the force are churned out to build a force Nigerians would be proud of.

He spoke at the Naval Training Command regimental dinner night in Lagos, tasking the officers of the Naval Training Command to ensure to train good officers and men from naval institutions across the country, explaining that, “whatever we roll out from this place will determine the capacity and capability of the force.”

He urged the officers of the force to rededicate themselves anew to the service of Nigeria and to be responsive to trust reposed on them by the government.

Earlier, the Command presented an award to Commodore Ikire (retd) for assisting in promoting the work of the Nigerian Navy even after retirement.

In another development, the Nigerian Navy (NN) on Saturday urged its personnel to regularly go for medical check-ups in order to determine their levels of fitness.

Rear Admiral Stanford Enoch, the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC), gave the advice after a route march.

He further urged personnel to endeavour to check their blood pressures regularly.

The FOC, represented by Commodore Adesola Adesope, the Command Assure Sea Training Officer of NAVTRAC, said that naval personnel should stop living in self-denial if they were on medication.

“You can see that that there has been a spate of sudden deaths among us, not only within the Nigerian Navy, even among the civilian populace.

“Our findings have shown that this is because we do not do our clinical (medical) checks at least twice a week.

“As military men, let us endeavour to check our blood pressure always; it doesn’t have to do with age, whether you are 20 years ,40 years or 50 years of age.

“Let us stop living in self-denial. If you have been placed on a particular medication; please, follow it to the letter.

“I believe in God and in miracles, but let us stop living in self-denial,” the naval chief said.

He also encouraged personnel to be cautious about their environments as the Yuletide approaches.