The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed commended
the Nigerian Navy for its effort at safeguarding the Nation’s maritime
domain for which Nigeria has been delisted from the list of piracy
prone nations including the removal of War Insurance premium hitherto
paid by all ships arriving the country to foster maritime commerce and
trade. The commendation was made while on a visit to Naval
Headquarters Abuja on Thursday 23 March 2023. The impressive
development was acknowledged by the Minister during his goodwill
message at the shipping of stripes ceremony of two navy commodores
promoted by the Nigerian Navy Board on 15 December 2022. The Nigerian
Navy board had approved the promotion of 30 commodores to the rank of
Rear Admiral in December 2022 and 28 of them were decorated on 21
December 2022, however the remaining two were promoted unto retirement
hence their decoration commonly called shipping of stripes in naval
parlance was postponed till their time of retirement.
The two commodores decorated today to the rank of Rear Admiral are
Preston Efedue and Jamila Malafa. Rear Admiral Efedue hails from Delta
State and was commissioned into the Nigerian Navy in 1991 and he holds
a PhD in Diplomacy and International Affairs. He has held several
appointments during the course of his career. Notable amongst them
are; Director of Marine Services, Deputy Commandant Naval War College
and until his retirement, he was the provost marshal of the Nigerian
Navy. On the part of Rear Admiral Malafa, she hails from Adamawa State
and joined the Nigerian Navy in 1988. She holds a Masters Degree in
Constitution/ Criminal Law from the University of Lagos and
International Maritime Law from International Maritime Law Institute,
University of Macida, Malta. She has equally held several appointments
within and beyond the borders of Nigeria. Rear Admiral Malafa was
African Liaison Criminal Court of justice of the African Bar
Association, UK from 2019 – 2021 as well as Judge Evaluator,
International Criminal Court from 2018 till date. Until her
retirement, she was the Director Legal Services, Naval Headquarters,
Abuja.
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral AZ Gambo during the
ceremony congratulated the newly decorated Rear Admirals for reaching
the peak of their career and urged them to justify the confidence of a
proud and deserving nation. In furtherance, he reiterated that there
has been a reduction in piracy which culminated into delisting Nigeria
from the list of International Maritime Bureau list of Piracy Prone
Countries and removal of War risk premium leading to reduced cost of
insurance from $5000 to $960 for Merchant Ships coming to Nigeria. He
further used the opportunity to pledge his unalloyed loyalty and
appreciation to the President, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In response to the kind gesture, Rear Admiral Efedue quoting Brian
Brown said “what separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude”.
On that note, he appreciated the President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, the Chief of the Naval Staff, the Minister of Information and
Culture as well as everyone present.
Present at the event, were the President National Council of Women
Society, Hajia Lami Baba, Legal Colleagues, Principal Staff
Officers of the Naval Headquarters, friends and family members of the
celebrants
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