By Muhammad Tijjani

Former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm Jibrilla Ayinla (Rtd),on Tuesday, admonished military personnel to remain focused, saying the diligent discharge of their duties entailed utmost sacrifice.

Ayinla stated this in Kaduna at a seminar organised for personnel of Department of Maritime Warfare, Senior Course 44, Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji, Kaduna State.

He reminded the personnel that by its nature, their profession was not cut out for people whose utmost desire was to become rich.

“This job is not the type to make money; the oath you took to sacrifice your life for the nation is paramount; any other thing should be subsumed by the service”, he advised.

Ayinla tasked the officers to be innovative in tackling challenges, especially in this era of scarce resources.

According to him, armed forces personnel should continue to play their role in strengthening the unity of the country by overcoming all challenges.

“In the Armed Forces, religion, ethnicity and other differences have no room; productivity is what is obtainable and what a personnel is able to contribute to the defense of the country is what is desirable,” he said.

Earlier, the Commandant of AFCSC, AVM Olurotimi Tuwase, said the seminar was to enhance students’ understanding of the laws guiding operations in the sea.

Also, the Director, Department of Maritime Warfare, Cdr Kehinde Odubanjo, said maritime security had changed as a result of the varying dynamics and the emerging transnational nature of maritime threats in the maritime domain.

According to him, the future of global maritime domain is uncertain because the threats to maritime security, which require interventions, do not only continue to occur, but also present new and frightening dimensions in the last decades.

Odubanjo however noted that threats in Nigeria’s maritime domain had, over time, been attributed to several factors, among which are weak maritime governance, poor inter-agency cooperation, weak judicial system and weak implementation of existing legal framework.

“This underscores the need for this all-important seminar, giving us the opportunity to deliberate and suggest how effective implementation of existing legal framework can contribute to combating threats, and in turn, enhancing security in Nigeria’s maritime environment”, he said.(NAN

========

Wike refuses to confirm his presidential ambition, says he has election strategy

BAYO WAHAB

February 2, 2022 5:46 AM

Wike did not deny or confirm nursing the ambition to lead Nigeria.

Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike [PDP]

As presidential hopefuls continue to announce their intentions to join the 2023 presidential race, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, refused to confirm his presidential ambition.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

Speaking on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, Wike dodged a question on whether he has a presidential ambition or not.

The governor, however, did not deny or confirm nursing the ambition to lead Nigeria.

When asked if he was running for president, Wike replied: “When is the time limit within which a person can declare to run or not to run? Is there a particular time limit that you can declare (ambition), so that let it not be said that ‘if you don’t declare tomorrow, you may be late?’”

When the governor was reminded about other aspirants who are already declaring their intention to run, he questioned the anchors about the appropriate place to announce his intention.

“So, if I want to declare to run, I must do it before Channels Television; I will not do it before my people?”He asked.

“I’ve always told people that everybody has their own strategy. If I want to run for election, I have my own strategy. If you want to run for election, you have your own strategy. No doubt, people believe that by my performance, I am likely to run. There is no doubt about the belief of the people. But if I want to run for election, everybody will know that I want to run; I will tell Nigerians that today, I am declaring that I want to run for election.”

Wike further said he works with people, saying before announcing his intention, he will have to sit and review everything with them.

“So, it is when we have sat down and reviewed everything, and we believe that ‘yes, we think we can do this; we think we cannot do that.’ That is the way I operate. I don’t operate in isolation,” he said.

Meanwhile, it’s been reported that the former Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is considering Wike as his running mate in the upcoming presidential election.

Although Atiku is yet to formally declare his interest in the 2023 presidential race, Raymond Dokpesi, the head of Atiku’s presidential campaign technical committee, has been urging Nigerians to give the former VP a chance to rule the country.