Nigerian Navy, NN conducted its first quarter 2015 10-kilometre route march on Saturday in Abuja, for officers and ratings of the service.
The route march which was aimed at ensuring that officers and ratings of NN were physically fit to discharge their constitutional responsibilities started from the Mogadishu Cantonment at Asokoro to Niger Barracks and back to the cantonment.
Chief of Naval Staff, CNS, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin said the march was part of the 2015 calendar of events for the Navy. Represented by the Navy’s Chief of Administration, Rear Admiral Johnson Olutoyin, Jibrin said that it was expected that all naval formation across the country also carry out the march.
Jibrin said the exercise will assist the personnel to keep fit and do their job effectively where ever they are deplored.
He said: “You all know what is happening in the North-East and we cannot claim that we are not part of the Nigerian military that can be deplored to that sector. So anything that we can do to keep ourselves fit and ready to take up the challenge there will be valued.”
“Even though this is an official engagement, individually you must be prepared to keep fit .And you must be prepared that anytime or day you are drafted to the north-east; you are ready to discharge you responsibility.”
He commended the officers for going through the routes and back without any mishap.
“ I can see that a lot of you participated in this route march with a lot of zeal and high spirit. I like to commend you all and this route march is part of the 2015 calendar of events for the navy and as we doing ours here it is expected that all our units , commands would also be doing same.In this route march a whole lot of you are more prepared to move from here to the north-east”
In his remarks, Director of Sports, Nigerian Navy, Commodore Omatseye Niesiama, said a military officer should also be mentally alert and psychologically stable.
“And these three factors are put together in this exercise so as to test our mental alertness, physical fitness and psychologically preparation. Everybody who participated in the exercise completed the exercise and it is a good sign”.
