Nigeria is Shifting Towards Self-Reliance in Military Hardware – Defence Minister

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Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar CON mni, was on a two-days working visit to key military institutions which includes Nigerian Defense Academy, Nigerian Army Command Engineering Depot (CED), Buffalo Engineering Technical Services Limited (BETSL) and Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) all in Kaduna State.

The Minister was accompanied by high-ranking officers including Major General M.L.D. Saraso, The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division; Major General A.K. Ibrahim, The Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy and Air Vice Marshal Sani Labaran Rabe, Commandant of AFIT, along with other senior military officers.

Speaking to journalists at the end of the visits, the Minister
revealed that Nigeria is steadily moving from dependence on foreign military procurement to local production ranging from combat vehicles, arms, ammunition and other military equipment as well as repairs and refurbishment of military hardware, which marks a significant stride towards self-reliance for enhanced national security.

The Minister praised their ongoing efforts in Training, local production and refurbishing of military assets.

“Training, according to the Minister, remains a vital pillar in achieving Nigeria’s defence objectives. I equally inspected several workshops and saw impressive potentials and progress on repairs and refurbishing of completely burnt and damaged MRAPs, Tanks, and APC vehicles. New combat platforms such as Buffalo APC fighting vehicles and MRAPs, bullet proof glasses, spare parts and surveillance UAV’s are also being built at the workshops. Some of the equipment successfully constructed and repaired are made readily available for redeployment while others are already deployed back to theatre’s of operations,” he said.

The Minister commended the Armed Forces for their initiative and emphasized the critical roles of Training, Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) in achieving operational excellence. He urged continued collaborations between the institutions, investment in military RDI to boost efficiency and reduce reliance on imported hardware.

Highlighting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to transforming Nigeria’s defence capabilities, the Minister noted the recent signing of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) Bill into law which aimed at facilitating local production, repairs, refurbishment and supply of military hardware and ordnance for the armed forces and other security agencies.

He underscored the need for continuous support for institutions like the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), AFIT, CED and BETSL to ensure the development of skilled, competent, committed military personnel as well defense production”, he noted.

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