Gambo said this at the pulling out parade held in his honour at the NNS Quora ground, Apapa, Lagos.
This was even as he revealed that the Navy on his watch in the last two and a half years arrested over 15,000 rogue vessels.
According to him, top among the arrests was the MT HEROIC IDUN, which he said attempted to load crude oil in Bonny without authorisation. He also stated that the surveillance capability of the Navy led to a reduction in maritime crimes in the nation’s waters, adding that about 10 pirates arrested for different infractions were sentenced to 12 years imprisonment each for the first time in July 2022.
He said the feat was achieved through the enactment of the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act by the Federal Government in 2019.
He added: “I want to welcome all of us to this auspicious occasion; as the saying goes, anything that has a beginning must have an end. This ceremony marks the end of my military career and exit from our illustrious Navy that I had been in the past 39 years of my career. Like every career, my service years were filled with excitement and demanding experiences and this made it expedient for me to put my best for the service of my fatherland. For me as the 21st indigenous Chief of the Naval Staff, I took it upon myself to deliver on the onerous task of our constitutional role.
“I can say that our Navy is standing to the standard of global repute, which I can be proud of anytime. Looking back, I gladly refer to the giant strides of the service under my leadership. The Nigerian Navy made significant improvements in operations, manpower development and welfare.
“The gamut of activities in the last two years further significantly reduced piracy within the Nigerian Maritime domain and the Gulf of Guinea (GoG), which was corroborated by the Defence Web. These eventually culminated in the exiting of Nigeria from the list of piracy prone countries as conveyed in the International Maritime Bureau Report of March 3, 2022.”
Gambo recalled that on his watch, the Nigerian Navy commenced the first indigenous systematic survey of the Nigerian coastal and offshore waters, using state of the art survey equipment onboard Nigerian Navy Ship LANA, an hydrographic Ship acquired in 2022.
“This marked the systematic survey of the Nigerian maritime domain. This will position Nigeria on the right path towards improved economic growth, national security and development. The secret of these achievements remain in teamwork, integrity and professionalism,” he said.
