Minister of Defence, Major General Christopher Musa (retd.), has said Nigeria must strengthen local defence production to address challenges in procuring weapons and ammunition and tackle the country’s prolonged insecurity.
Musa spoke at the University of Ibadan while commissioning the CG Musa Security Management Hub, donated to the TETFUND Centre of Excellence in Security Management.
He attributed part of the difficulty in sustaining security operations to the country’s dependence on foreign suppliers, saying international conflicts had made the procurement of military equipment increasingly difficult.
“Our intention is to expose our local producers to foreign and international manufacturers so that we can continue to produce what we need or what we rely on. Why insecurity continues to be prolonged is that we do not produce all we need,” he said.
The minister added that even when Nigeria had the money to purchase military supplies, availability was not guaranteed.
“Most times when we go to buy, even with cash at hand, you can’t get them off the shelves. And now with the wars going on in the Ukraine, Russia and the Strait of Hormuz, it became extremely difficult buying as little as ammunition to use talkless of APCs. Since our local manufacturers are doing their best, we need to escalate to an international level,” Musa said.
He described Nigeria’s security challenges as increasingly complex and interconnected, warning that military operations alone could not resolve the crisis.
“The security challenges confronting our nation have become increasingly complex, interconnected and multidimensional. The threats we face continue to test our national resilience.
“Equally concerning are the underlying conditions that sustain insecurity, including extremism, weak governance systems, political manifestations and social exclusion among others. These realities remind us that security cannot be achieved through military operations alone. It requires informed policies, credible institutions, technological innovation and a comprehensive understanding of the human dimensions of conflict,” he said.
Musa also highlighted the role of academic institutions in developing sustainable security solutions, describing universities as important contributors to national security management.
“The academia occupies a strategic place in our national security management architecture. The battlefield may reveal the immediate manifestations of insecurity but the university provides the intellectual environment to interrogate its causes, evaluate responses and develop sustainable solutions,” he said.
He pledged continued collaboration between defence institutions and universities to ensure that security policies and operational strategies benefit from research, innovation and evidence-based analysis.
The minister also said the government had stepped up security operations and was gradually improving the situation, urging Nigerians to contribute to national security through a whole-of-nation approach.
“If you see something, say something,” he added.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Kayode Adebowale, thanked the minister for donating the facility, saying it would provide opportunities for current and future generations to advance security research.
Adebowale said the university intended to develop the hub into a centre for multidisciplinary research and collaboration between policymakers and academics.
“We hope and believe that this hub serves as the nexus for multidisciplinary research, and serve as a convening ground for policy makers and academics. The facility must not become a museum of security artifacts but (must) be used to generate data that will guide the ministry of defense and our security agents,” he said.
The centre’s Lead Researcher and Technical Officer, Professor Isaac Albert, also commended Musa for fulfilling his promise to the institution and called for increased funding to support research and projects that could inform security policies.
Albert urged security agencies to engage the centre’s experts and utilise their research in formulating and implementing security strategies.
Earlier, the Director of the TETFUND Centre of Excellence in Security Management, Professor Benjamin Aluko, thanked the minister for donating the building and encouraged Nigerians to enrol in the university’s MSc and PhD programmes in Security Management.
