The Nigerian senate on Wednesday urged the presidency to take over the NNS ARADU as a presidential asset and resuscitate it for national security, safety and pride.
The resolution followed a motion by Senator Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East) on the need to resuscitate the Nigerian Navy flagship NNS ARADU.
The motion co sponsored by 14 senators bemoaned that, in 1987, barely five years after her commissioning, NNS ARADU ran aground twice and was involved in a major collision and underwent a significant local refit in 1991 at the Nigerian Navy Dockyard, Wilmot point, Lagos.
Recalled that NNS ARADU participated in the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Trafalgar in the UK in 2005 and embarked on the hazardous trans-Atlantic voyage in 2007 to participate in Brazil Bicentenary celebration.
The sponsors of the motion regretted that in 1994 NNS ARADU experienced degradation of machinery and equipment post refit trials and was assessed as Beyond Economical Repair in 1995. “In addition to report, while berthed in Naval Dockyard experienced rough weather and severe turbulence between 31 May to 2 June 2014 which caused the already weakened ship serious damage that resulted in flooding and near sinking”.
Regretted further that the once “a pride of Nigerian Navy and the nation” is not operational, in deplorable condition, and would require life extension refit.
The senators noted that “the other seven ships of same category in the world built about the same time are still energetically sea worthy and in Operation due to proper maintenance.
“The misfortune of ARADU was the transfer of the ship from the Presidency to the Nigerian Navy for maintenance which could not afford to keep it afloat properly due to the envelope budget system”.
They further noted that “NNS ARADU is the equivalent of Air Force One in the Presidential air fleets which has since been maintained and kept by the Presidency. When in its good shape, there was a Presidential cabinet in it and by convention cannot sail out without Presidential approval”.
The lawmakers said “that Nigeria has no flagship on her seas today and had lost her pride of her dreaded sea power among the African nations”.
Consequently, it was resolved that the senate should convoke a roundtable of all stakeholders such as Nigerian Ports Authority (MPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigerian Customs Service, and Nigerian Immigration Services with a view to fashioning out a funding regime to facilitate the re-fitting, and refurbishing of NNS ARADU to carry out its onerous role in servicing Nigeria’s maritime domain.
