The Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has disclosed that the police need 350 million rounds of ammunition yearly for effective operations.
The Minister stated this during the signing of a Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a weapon production plant in Abuja.
The MoU was between the Ministry of Defence and two agencies – the Defence Industries Corporations of Nigeria (DICON) and the National Agency for Science and Engineering (NASENI).
He added that he promised President Bola Tinubu that DICON would soon be exporting its military capabilities.
Speaking on the importance of self-sufficiency in defence production, the Minister lamented that Nigeria has failed to build its institution for 60 years.
Matawalle said if past administrations had made self-sufficiency their goal, Nigeria should by now would be exporting its military capabilities.
According to him, “We have been travelling all over the world, and we see how local manufacturers are developing their countries. Unfortunately, Nigeria, for 60 years, has failed to build the institutions. But that has changed and it will continue changing.
I make a promise to Mr. President that, before the expiration of his four years, DICON will be exporting its military capabilities.
If today we are producing 60 or 70 percent of our military hardware and ammunition, it will reduce the amount of money the ministry or the military is spending every year on procurement of hardwares and ammunition.
The ammunition requirement of our military is about 200 million rounds per annum. Just military. Put together, other paramilitaries, the police, we are looking at about 350 million rounds of ammunition per annum”.
