Posted by By Philip Nwosu on
Out-going Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Samuel Afolayan, Tuesday said that the MT. African Pride saga was the most trying period in his four years reign as the head of the Nigerian Navy.
Out-going Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Samuel Afolayan, Tuesday said that the MT. African Pride saga was the most trying period in his four years reign as the head of the Nigerian Navy.
He lampooned the media over the reportage of the disappearance of the missing ship, accusing them of being on the pay role of illegal bunkerers whom he said are busy devising means of running the nation down.
Speaking in Lagos, during a farewell visit, Afolayan said: "They want to intimidate the navy in the job we are doing. Of course, being at the helms of affairs, I know precisely what we are doing for this country. Since it is not the game as usual, we have to contain the excess of those who are ruining the economy," he added.
The outgoing naval chief listed three enemies of the country as economic destroyers and those assisting them to strip the nation bare as well as unfriendly media practitioners and enemies within the navy.
He urged the force to ensure to purge itself of the enemies within, adding that in the fight with the illegal bunekerers, "we are within the devil and the deep blue sea. Don't connive with the bunkerers, because the consequences are fatal. Not only will you lose your rank, your identity will be lost."
Admiral Afolayan, who expressed gratitude to God that he was able to keep his white uniform clean, told his subordinators: "Your whites have not been stained by me."
He said if he had left the leadership of the navy last year his successor would have been overwhelmed by the enemies and would have dragged his image down, noting that this was why President Olusegun Obasanjo refuse to approve his retirement last year.