The Chief Executive Officer PROFORCE Limited, Mr. Ade Ogundeyin has said that military strength is a panacea for economic growth and societal improvement of any nation.
Ogundeyin stated this at a lecture titled: “The Role of Public and Private Sectors in the Development of a Robust Military Industrial Base in Nigeria” which he delivered on Wednesday at the Defence Research and Development Bureau Annual Seminar and Exhibition held at Sani Abacha hall of the National Defence College, Abuja Nigeria.
He said that the military strength of any Nation is dependent on its military technological development through collaborations with Defence Related Industries that in turn creates jobs and boosts economic growth.
According to him,capacity building of defence industries on the domestic scene usually leads to self-reliance and bridge the gap of over-dependence on foreign nations for defence equipment.
“When we build capacity to manufacture our equipment and integrate other technologies, we can design solutions that will meet specific requirements of the end-user and also provide satisfactory understanding for easy maintenance and upgrade of the system”, he said.
The Federal Government’s efforts towards addressing the need for local manufacturing of defence equipment led to the establishment of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, the Defence Industrial Corporation of Nigeria and the Special Vehicle Plant among others, he pointed out.
Mr Ade Ogundeyin urged relevant stakeholders in the business of defence to enact policies that will create a conducive environment and regulation that will guide defence production, procurement, industrial activities and collaborations with local and international partners.
He said that adequate budgetary allocations are required for the defence sector to enhance Research and Development for the iimprovement of defence infrastructure as well as
the Security and Intelligence supports that are critical to protect defence companies and its operations.
The private sector, he said plays a complementary role in leveraging innovations, entrepreneurship and operational efficiency to accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s military-industrial complex which dovetails into manufacturing and production capacity, technology advancement, skill development, capacity building, backward integration, technology transfer and local content development among others.
The PROFORCE chief also highlighted the collaboration between public and private sectors through joint ventures, strategic alliances, joint research and development, innovation clusters and defence ecosystem.