As part of efforts to cut Nigeria’s dependence on imported arms, President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday directed the Defence Ministry to design a plan for local production of weapons for the armed forces.
Buhari, who spoke at the graduation ceremony of the National Defence College in Abuja, said the country can no longer depend solely on other countries for critical military equipment and logistics.
He described the present situation as unacceptable.
“We must evolve viable mechanisms for near-self-sufficiency in military equipment and logistics production complemented only by very advanced foreign technologies,” President Buhari was quoted yesterday as saying in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
He added:”the Ministry of Defence is being tasked to draw up clear and measurable outlines for development of a modest Military Industrial Complex for Nigeria.
“In this regard, it is to liaise with other strategic MDAs and industries to re-engineer the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) to meet national military hardware and logistics requirements.”
Buhari said his administration since its assumption of power has reviewed the nature and character of the country’s security threats and challenges.
“We recognized first and foremost, the external dimensions of these threats and the need for international cooperation and common security mechanisms to tackle them,” he said.
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