Nigeria Moves Towards Self-Reliance in Military Procurement, Says Defence Minister Badaru
The Minister of Defence, Badaru Abubakar, has announced that Nigeria is making significant progress in shifting from dependence on foreign military procurement to local production.
This move aims to facilitate the local production, repairs, refurbishment, and supply of military hardware and ordnance, thereby enhancing national security.
According to a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday by Mati Ali, the Personal Assistant on Media and Publicity to the minister, Badaru Abubakar stated that the shift to local production is expected to boost efficiency and reduce reliance on imported hardware.
The minister made this known shortly after concluding his 2-day working tour of military institutions and facilities in Kaduna.
During his visit, Badaru Abubakar praised the ongoing efforts in training, local production, and refurbishing military assets at key institutions, including the Nigerian Defence Academy, Nigerian Army Command Engineering Depot, Buffalo Engineering Technical Services Limited, and the Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology.
He emphasized that training remains a vital pillar in achieving Nigeria’s defence objectives.
The minister was impressed by the potential and progress on repairs and refurbishing of military hardware during his inspection of several workshops. He noted that new combat platforms, bulletproof glasses, spare parts, and surveillance UAVs are being built at the workshops, with some of the equipment already constructed and repaired being made readily available for redeployment, while others are already deployed back to theatres of operations.
Badaru Abubakar commended the Armed Forces for their initiative and emphasized the critical roles of Training, Research, Development, and Innovation in achieving operational excellence. He urged continued collaborations between institutions and investment in military Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI).
