Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports.
Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the recuperating Vice President, has taken a critical assessment of the nation’s security challenges and issued an urgent call for the military and other security agencies to be miles ahead of the terrorists and other criminals plaguing the country.
He also advocated for the necessary steps to be taken to increase local production of arms for military use in combating terrorism and banditry.
Speaking during a virtual interaction after receiving a presentation on, “Defence Transformation and National Security: Strategic Options for Nigeria of the Future,” from the National Defence College Course 30 participants, Osinbajo who is recovering from surgery as a result of injury on his knee, stressed that Nigeria’s current security challenges and emerging threats required the country’s military and other relevant stakeholders to be several steps ahead of perpetrators while also stepping up local production of armaments.
He said: “If you look at the challenges that we are facing and the nature of those challenges, it is evident that we need to be many steps ahead of non-state actors in particular who are perpetrators of this asymmetric warfare that we are experiencing.”
He added: “It is clear that given current realities in our security situation, there is absolutely every need for us to fast-forward all our plans for the future so that we can be much more effective in dealing with the current threats and the threats that we will experience as we go into the future.
“One of the most critical areas is the question of local production of military hardware and I think it is a low-hanging fruit when it comes to manufacturing some of the hardware that we will need. I think that there is a need, especially now to really look very closely at local production of our hardware, beginning with armament.”
While making a case for improved investment in the Defence Industries Corporation (DICON), the vice president noted that every country of the world takes advantage of the crisis situation that it faces.”
According to him, “we mentioned India, Brazil, and even the more developed economies of the world, during the first world war, the second world war, it was these challenges that led to the development of their military-industrial complexes. We have a challenge today, there are so many zones where there are conflicts. Our law enforcement is spread out everywhere.”
Commending the course participants for their efforts in proposing innovations in the defence sector, Osinbajo emphasised the urgency of local production of arms.
“If we say the local companies should produce some of the mobile platforms like Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle (MRAV), if we give them the contracts, they will produce, but if we choose to import rather than produce locally then we will never develop our military-industrial complex,” he added.
The vice president also spoke about the need for transparency in the management of resources meant for the acquisition of hardware for the defence and security agencies.
According to him: “There needs to be more accountability because every time you hear about ‘we not having enough equipment,’ but there must be accountability. I will like to see a framework for greater accountability within the Ministry of Defence that ensures that they are able to account for military expenditure”.
Earlier, Col. A. A. Adamu proposed, among other things, restructuring the Ministry of Defence to reflect contemporary challenges and contain emerging threats to defense and security in a presentation on behalf of Course 30 participants.
Enhancing Nigeria’s defense production capacity, leveraging technology, and improving collaboration within and across Africa were also mentioned as determining factors for the effective transformation of Nigeria’s defense and security sector.
Adamu prayed for the vice president’s quick recovery on behalf of the course participants and the National Defence College management, and thanked him for the opportunity to make the presentation.
The presentation of research reports to the vice president by course participants is a major event on the National Defence College’s annual academic calendar. Since 2016, college participants have presented the vice president with reports on research conducted in key areas.
In 2019, Course 27 participants presented a paper titled “Water Resource Management and Regional Security: Lake Chad in Perspective”; in 2020, Course 28 presented a paper titled “Border Management & National Development in Nigeria: The ECOWAS Protocol Relating to Free Movement of Persons, Residence, and Establishment in Perspective,” and in 2021, Course 29 presented a paper titled “Creating Jobs & Opportunities for Africa’s Largest Youth Population.”
