The Chief Of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has stated that the Nigerian military is on the path to becoming a superpower in the production of military equipment in a few years.
General Musa stated this on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television on Friday.
“Sometimes we gain traction and then it goes down, but now, with the signing of the DICON Bill, we are going to make sure it is sustainable. People are interested, people are coming in, we are having a lot of partners going into it and I can assure you that in a few years, Nigeria too will be a superpower in producing its own equipment,” Gen Musa said.
According to him, the military used to produce some of its weapons at the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, DICON, but that slowed down over the years.
He, however, expressed optimism at the resumption of production of military equipment saying the Nigerian military is now making small calibre weapons directly.
He said: “We used to assemble guns from DICON but it stopped, that is being restored now. We produce our own ammunition now. Directly we do that for small calibre 7.62mm, and 9mm.
“We want to do the 5.6 and then go to the higher calibres from 12.7 and above. So those are the things we are working on. You know, the funny thing is that the Nigerian DICON started 60 years last year, the same time as Brazil’s. Brazil is producing unmanned aircraft and unmanned submarines, they have gone very far, and we want to achieve that.”
General Musa said that the production of military equipment locally will help create employment for the youths and as well improve the country’s foreign exchange.
He added that local production of equipment will enable the Nigerian military to sell to neighbouring countries and raise funds for the military.
