‘Why Nigeria Military is Deficient n Hardware’

Laleye Dipo

Funding constraints, diplomatic and other international bureaucratic bottlenecks have been attributed for the nation’s inability to acquire sufficient and modern military hardware for the Nigerian armed forces to fight banditry, kidnapping and other security breaches in the country.

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Farouk Yahaya, disclosed this in a message to the Nigerian Army Research and Development Conference, which was opened in Minna, the Niger State capital, yesterday.

The theme of the three-day conference is: ‘Enhancing NA Joint Operational Effectiveness through Research and Development’.

Yahaya, who was represented at the event by the Commander, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) of the Nigerian Army, Major General Stevenson Olabanji, said if the country was to be technologically self-reliant in military hardware acquisition, the country must begin to look onwards.

According to him, “If we must be technologically self-reliant as a country, it is imperative that we change our approach and begin to look onwards through a more valuable and rewarding research development.

“It is worthy to note that a technologically empowered nation is a research and development-based nation,” Yahaya said, emphasising the need for the intensification of efforts towards meaningful research and development in the Nigerian army, the defence sector and the country in general.

The COAS said the conference was organised to allow for a more enriched theoretical approach to the search for technological innovations in collaboration with relevant military and civil research agencies.

Yahaya reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian army to collaborate with renowned research-based institutions towards realising the objective of producing the required military hardware, pointing out that the collaboration is already yielding the required dividends.

The army chief said the engagement with the Defence Industries Corporation (DIC) and the Command Engineering Depot has led to the development of hardware such as EZUGWU and Conqueror MRAPS, the DSHK (Dashka) anti-gun as well as the Rocket Propelled Grenade-7.

“Following these landmark achievements, I can further assure you that the Nigerian Army is also willing to partner local manufacturing industries towards building these items,” he said, adding that: “This initiative will not only make the country self-reliant but will also enable it to save scarce foreign exchange that could be channeled to other sectors of the economy in line with the Federal Governments Economic Recovery Growth Plan.”

Yahaya expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari “who has demonstrated tremendous leadership and unflinching support for the Nigerian army.