The Nigerian Navy has spent about $8.5 Million (over N1.7 Billion) on a new warship, NNS OKPABANA, which the United States of American government donated to it as part of efforts to tackle security challenges in Nigeria’s waters and the gulf of guinea. The ownership of the ship, which landed in Nigeria today, was transferred to Nigeria from the U.S. Coastguard in May 2014. It was the second ship provided by the U.S. government, after the NNS Aradu.
The amount spent on the ship is for refurbishing of the vessel and emplacing of its armaments.
Receiving the vessel in Lagos today, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin said that the addition of the vessel would boost the navy’s war against maritime crimes.
“It is worthy of note to state that the successes recorded by NNS THUNDER in curtailing threats in our maritime domain and the larger Gulf of Guinea region, with the confidence reposed in our country by the USA, that made it possible to acquire NNS OKPABANA.
“The addition of this ship into the NN fleet will certainly bolster our zeal to end the menace in our maritime domain and the region, as well as support the regional and global effort to eliminate transnational maritime threats.
“This nation has always requested the navy to do more and with this, the government recognises that there must be needed platform for the navy to do its job well.
“The present government headed by President Goodluck Jonathan took the recapitalisation of fleets as a huge challenge and has invested huge funds through the acquisition of two Off-Shore Patrol Vessels (OPV) from China and this one from USA.
“It is hoped that by the time we take delivery of all, the NN will be better for it,’’ Mr. Jibrin said.
The U.S-made vessel came at a time of strained relations between Nigeria and the United States, primarily over the fight against extremist group, Boko Haram.
The Nigerian government accuses the United States of not fully supporting its military effort against the jihadist group, by refusing to sell Nigeria quality weapons needed for strategic operations.
The American government accuses Nigeria of human rights abuses in the war against terrorism, and says its laws prohibit sales of weapons to nations with questionable human rights record.
In 2014, the disagreement led to the cancellation of a training programme by American specialists for Nigerian troops.
It is not clear how the transfer of the ship will help relations between the two nations with regards to Boko Haram, as the new vessel will focus on maritime security and would play little or no role in the terrorism war in Nigeria’s northeast region.
The chief of naval staff said: “For us to be able to do effective maintenance, it is better to co-locate the two ships (OKPABANA and THUNDER) in the same command.
“However, deployment should be based on threat perception. If they are closely related and are operating about the same area, our maintenance team can be co-located where they are and sourcing for spares will be easier.
“We have opened a maintenance channel with the American government such that we can always source for spares.
“Apart from that, our maintenance that has been working on-board THUNDER will be maintained for OKPABANA and we will continue to maintain the channel of spare sourcing to avoid what happened to ARADU,” Jibrin said.
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