Repetitive navigation style or parallel navigation

I have a vertical menu on the left side which is used to navigate between the main sections.

In some of these main sections there are secondary sections that hold a lot of data in them so I agree with the fact that they need to be presented in smaller chunks and not one big form or a series of them in one page.

Those items in the secondary menu can be 1-10 items or can reach 25+ (dynamic number).

This navigation just "works" but in my opinion, having a second vertical menu next to the main one looks bad and an "untrained eye" would probably be confused regarding the relation between the main menu and this navigation menu.

What do you guys think? What would be a better alternative in such case?

P.S. The icons with green and red show which section contains "recommended" fields which are not filled and which sections are completely filled. (Again, I do not agree with the icons used and I will probably change them in the new design).