FG urges partnership among defence-related industries

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Mrs. Nuratu Batagarawa has charged Defence-Related Industries of Nigeria to foster closer collaboration and coalition, stressing that economy of effort is a vital principle of war.
She stated this while delivering an address at the maiden meeting of Defence-Related Industries in Nigeria held at the Ministry of Defence, Abuja.
According to her, the maiden meeting was aimed at translating the grouping together of this body into Defence Industries Association of Nigeria, stressing that Nigeria’s endowment in numerous indigenous DRIs have made great achievements individually.
According to her, “a clear example was the exhibition of various defence related industries equipment, gadgets on various platforms by our own DRIs during the Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL) 2018 held at Monguno in Borno state.” She lamented that the indigenous DRIs were not organised into an association to galvanise their various potentials and capacities which the individual industry and the nation ought to have benefited immensely from.
The Permanent Secretary further stated that the establishment of Military Industrial Complex (MIC) for Nigeria with DICON as the epicenter to cater for the ordnance requirements of the nation’s Armed Forces and other security agencies, occupies the front burner position in the heart of the Commander-in-Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari.
“To attain the lofty objectives of the establishment of MIC in line with the President’s directives, there is no better time than now when DRIs are coming together to establish a formidable body that will be known as Defence Industries Association of Nigeria (DIAN),” she said.
She also noted that if Nigeria were to borrow a leaf from the South Africa Aerospace Maritime and Defence Industries Association (AMD) and Armaments Corporation of South Africa (ARMSCOR) as the umbrella body that harmonise and regulate the affairs of all their indigenous DRIs, the benefits both to the individual industry as well as the nation could be heartwarming.
She also noted with high optimism that the DIAN will no doubt benefit from the federal government’s policy of Ease of Doing Business as enshrined in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, adding that it will equally reduce the bureaucratic procedures encountered in sourcing for materials for manufacturing purposes.
Harping on market prospect, she asserted that Africa continent provides a ready market for the nation’s products and DIAN could leverage on such window of opportunity to maximize the potential benefits.
Earlier, the Director General, Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), Maj Gen Bamidele Ogunkale, while delivering his welcome address, harped on the need for DRIs to come together under one umbrella, stressing that critical situations deserve critical actions as necessity would always be mother of all inventions.