Mamman Ahmadu, DG, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) has said that the military besides the economy is the strength of the nation. He highlighted this during a courtesy visit by Major General J.O. Oni, the Director Procurement, Defence Headquarters (DHQ) and his team to the BPP. The DG said that the Nigeria military is focused and moving in the right direction with regards to its exploits in defending the territorial integrity of the country.
The Director General, in his remarks during this visit aimed at collaborating with BPP to ensure compliance with the requirements of the law in the military procurement activities emphasised that no serious nation will joke with the military and its activities. Noting that the development of the military capacity is germane to the overall success of that nation. As he observed “this will allow us to set target in the military and go for it”. In the same vein, he opined that the development of the internal capacity in the military is key to building a virile military base that will lead the country into a nation to be taken seriously by the rest of the world.
Mamman Ahmadu, while responding to MaJ. Gen. J.O. Oni and the rest of the delegation, stated that we must look inward to develop our own military hardware just like some other developed nations of the world that have very strong force. Stating that they took time to develop strong military hardware and are today strong forces to be reckoned with among the nations of the world.
The DG said building a military industrial complex in order to design and produce indigenous military hardware which will be founded on sound research and development (R&D) will reduce reliance on sourcing spares from other nations and thus abate the possibility of exposing the nation’s military flanks to the enemies in the time of emergency. He expressed the opinion that military hardware purchased from other nations puts the country at a disadvantaged position which could compromise the country’s security due to the fact that the basic technology is resident in the country of procurement, who will be unwilling to easily avail other nations of such technology.
Mamman Ahmadu while appreciating the efforts of the Nigerian Military in ensuring strict adherence to the Public Procurement Act, 2007 in their quest for more enlightenment and understanding of the public procurement process emphasised the significance of the military to any nation, stating that the whole world has benefitted tremendously from military research. In his summation, he said that some of the terms such as strategies, value engineering used in the civilian arena are the by – products of military research and some other terminologies in our vocabularies today.
Maj. Gen. J.O. Oni in his response stated that a lot of R&D need to go into the production of military hardware. He said a number of privately owned companies in Nigeria must be encouraged to be able to produce military equipment and emphasised that it is not what the military can handle alone. Stating that Research and Development (R&D) is key to military development. He emphasised the fact that even if the government is willing to provide the fund for research to have a military industrial complex, his fear is whether Nigeria has the capacity to be able to undertake the responsibility.
The DG and the Director Procurement (DHQ) were in agreement that a well-developed military industrial complex will propel Nigeria to be a hub for military hardware in West Africa Sub-region with enormous economic gains derivable from it.
Segun Imohiosen
Head Media/PRP (BPP).
