NNS Thunder F90
DAILY SUN
9 February, 2012
EXCERPTS:
(…..) He (Chairman of the Joint Security Information Managers Committee on security developments in the country and Director of Defence Information (DDI), Colonel Mohammed Yerima) disclosed further that the NNS Thunder, a Nigerian Navy Ship launched into the waters recently recorded its first success with the arrest of a cargo ship MT Takoradi, on the night of January 26 at Escravos.
He said that the NNS Thunder was on routine patrol in aid of Operation PULO Shield, a Joint Task Force inaugurated to check illegal bunkering in the Niger Delta. He said when Thunder accosted Takoradi,it was discovered that Takoradi was laden with one million liters of AGO; she was promptly arrested.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2012/feb/09/national-09-02-2012-003.html
Just imagine what six of this class of ship could do,Imagine how much they will save for the country.
(1) Their presence alone will send jitters down the spines of illegal fishing trawlers that travel thousands of kilometers around the world to come and “drain” our EEZ of fish because they know that the last place our Navy will be is in the water, they will rather be holding conferences in Ada (Osun State),Sokoto or Obudu cattle ranch. These thieves (armed with big sophisticated floating factories) have over-fished our waters such that the poor Nigerian fishermen with their canoes now have to travel farther that their ancestors have ever dared just to catch a few fishes to sell in order to keep their souls in their bodies. We are spending Billions in foreign exchange to import fish from Norway while we have them in abundance in our waters.
(2) With our EEZ littered with such platforms,terrorists will think twice before attacking offshore oil installations. I doubt if MEND will travel 120km to go and bomb Bonga rig. They (MEND) did it because they know there are more rear Admirals in NN than ships!
(3)The bunkeres who steals $15Billion worth of our oil every year will look for other “less risky” businesses.
(4) The Gulf of Guinea will certainly loose its position as the 2nd “most pirate-attack prone” sea in the world.
(5) Nigeria will regain its glory and rightfull place in the comity of nations.
The monthly security votes of some governors can buy these platform.
Unfortunately, we are being ruled by idiots and fools. their God is their belly.
Wow, you really have an idea of the scope of illegal fishing which goes on within our EEZ, even as it is often overlooked in deference to oil and gas concerns. But there are millions of Nigerians who earn a living from the waters offshore Nigeria.
Those foreign bounty hunters come to these parts from lands far and near and I am sorry to say this, Filipinos,Vietnamese and Ghanaians (get to google and see) top the chart of foreign nationals most frequently caught in the acts of illegal fishing, oil bunkering and piracy offshore Nigeria, albeit with the active collaboration of greedy Nigerians in the main. If you have not been taking note of the nationality of culprits, gentlemen, begin now.
That said, we need to move from a lethargic to a proactive stance once again. It is a FACT that there is an abundance of phytoplankton and zooplankton (both fed on marine animals) anywhere that cold and warm ocean currents meet, leading to a concommitant abundance in fisheries and aquatic life.
In the offshore waters between the Niger Delta of Nigeria and onwards to the Equato-Guinea/Gabon maritime zone, the warm Benguela current coming from the direction of Namibia and the cold Canary current from the direction of Morocco, MEET. It does not happen anywhere else in Africa and that is why the aforementioned stretch of ocean almost certainly boasts the richest fisheries resources on the continent.
If not our oil and gas resources or maritime trade which accounts for two-thirds of the combined total for West and Central Africa combined, then we can at least attempt to protect this treasure trove of marine resources, even as Nigerian fishing trawlers are also falling prey to brutal pirates.
The best advertisment for the navy is that as soon as it got to the shores of Nigeria it was put to WORK . It ALSO shows our American brothers we mean buisness if given the right equipment. Let us also give the N.N some credit They have been very active and unlike yesteryears have been a sea going blue navy.THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE PEOPLE HOLDING ON TO THE PURSE STRINGS.
Gentlemen, we need a surgeon’s scalpel to skillfully decipher where to place the blame. Is it the executive ? president GEJ’s ministry of defence? or is it the law makers ?
How come they are not playing the blame game ? Senator Anyanwu said, if not for corruption, we could afford these much needed naval vessels. But it’s anybody’s guess who she was accusing.
Is too much analysis, paralizing the decision making ? may be there are too many choices out there ? Well, Beeg has suggested asian HULLs, Isreali Navtronics, french missiles OR keep it all chinese for PETE’s sake. As long as it’s functional. And some of them are so affordable for nigeria, that we can pick several choices.
The security climate calls for action, Strategic foreign investors are calling for action, and has resorted to donating old ships. Economic imperatives calls for action. National pride calls for action.
But none of these calls have sufficiently translated the state of emergency to GEJ’s regime or congress. WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON ? NIGERIANS IN THE KNOW SHOULD DO THEIR PATRIOTIC DUTY AND SPEAK UP. BLOG ANONYMOUSLY, IF YOU HAVE TO.
Well, NNS Thunder is really being put to good use. NTA News reported a while ago that whilst patrolling Beninois waters (under the auspices of the Benin-Nigeria Joint Anti Piracy Task Group 11.1), the ship intercepted a certain vessel “St Michael” which had four Nigerians and nine Ghanaians on board. None of the Ghanaians had a travel passport on them. So they all got apprehended.
According to the Commanding Officer of NNS Thunder, Captain Mohammed Nagenu, the ship has since commencement of operations six weeks ago, stopped and searched numerous vessels at sea.