The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral SS Garba, on Thursday, inaugurated the junior ratings arrival (temporary) at the NNS Lugard command headquarters, in Lokoja.
The complex is to serve as temporary accommodation to newly posted ratings, before they are allocated their official quarters.
He was assisted by the Director, Project Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Directorate (PIMED), Naval headquarters, Rear Admiral SS Lassa and the Commander, NNS Lugard, Cdre. OM Olotu.
The FOC stated that the project was in part a fulfilment of the policy direction of the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), on infrastructural development and his efforts to accommodate naval personnel in the barracks.
According to him: “For me, it’s an honour to be here to be here today, to actually see this dream come to reality. I think I laid the foundation for this building on December 31th, last year. I had to dash down from Yenogoa (Bayelsa State), specially to do this, and went back.
“So, for me to come back and see this building standing as it is, is actually a dream come true for me.
“Ever since the Chief of Naval Staff came on board in 2015, his priority has always been to ensure the welfare of personnel, in addition to other strategic directives of operations and fleet availability.
“Now, we came to a realisation that over half of the population of our personnel live outside of the barracks, and because of that, the Chief of Naval Staff, immediately commenced massive infrastructural development, which I’m sure many of us over the years are witness to…what we are seeing opposite here, for every commander to key into what the Chief of Naval Staff stands for.
“We have seen Officers at different levels trying to also contribute their own quota in one way or the other to ensure that we meet up to our welfare requirements, especially as regards infrastructure.”
