Self-suffiency and Nigeria’s defence industry
In an unconscious way perhaps, the on-going military action against the Boko Haram insurgents, has again shown up the under-belly of the Nigerian state. This inclement situation becomes obvious in a context where we have discovered to our discomfiture that Nigeria lacks a self-sustaining defence industry.
The situation was worsened by the fact that, this was not the first time that the Nigerian nation would be caught in such a bind. At an earlier point in time, at the height of the Nigerian Civil War, the western nations also refused to sell arms to the then federal government. But then, since nature abhors a vacuum, the then Soviet Union stepped into the breach, and ultimately, as Historians have noted, this intervention on the part of the Soviets went a long way to determine the outcome of that internecine conflict.
We are therefore saddened by the fact that, some forty-five years after the end of the Civil War, Nigeria is still caught in the same vortex of helplessness. There is something of a tragic irony in this absurd situation. Here is a country which lays claims to being a regional power, with even continental aspirations, and yet she lacks the capacity to produce even small arms. To say the least,this is disgraceful. Thus what we really have on our hands is a standing army, perhaps the largest in Africa, that is completely devoid of a self-sustaining military hardware.
Even then, it is not as if we have not made efforts in this critical direction. It is apposite to recall here that way back in 1964, the Federal Government established the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, (DICON) in Kaduna.
The body i.e. DICON was given the mandate of manufacturing arms, which in the course of time would have led to the production of sophisticated weapons for our armed forces. But then, and especially in this particular social formation, dreams die easily. And to this extent, it was not surprising that the mandate of DICON became still-born.
In comparative terms, this dismal situation has been thrown into bolder relief. This can be observed from the fact that other countries which established defence industries at the same time like us have remained in the game.Such countries have even gone ahead to achieve exploits in the manufacturing of arms. Brazil comes readily to mind here. Today, that Latin American country is one of the leading arms manufacturers in the world. Another instance is South Africa. The South African arms industry is so sophisticated that, at a point in time, the country attained the feat of having in its possession, the nuclear bomb. Indeed, much of the immediate foregoing may well explain why in recent times, when Washington refused to sell arms to us, it was to this African country which we turned to for succour.
It is against this background, that we wholeheartedly welcome the call and plansby President Muhammadu Buharithat the Nigerian Army will in the nearest future possess its own military hardware. But the potential solution as stated above has been sketched in very narrow terms. The arms industry is not the only area in which we have to rely on external sources for survival. The same thing can be said for virtually every area of our national life. Over time, we have turned out to be shameless and unrepentant consumers of everything while we continue to produce nothing.
Consequently, what the situation calls for, is not just self-sufficiency in the arms industry alone. Rather, we should also aim at a situation, where we should be self–sufficient in other areas of our life. One authentic way of achieving this is to revive foundational and basic industries, which will wean us away from our current and near-complete dependence on the external world.
For the sake of clarity, these industries can be located in the areas of Steel and Petrochemicals.
Therefore, it is only to be hoped that, our leaders have sufficiently imbibed the right lessons from our recent and bitter experience, such that, they will now proceed to put in place, the much needed Technology Policy for Nigeria. Evidently, a viable technology policy will certainly have the attendant consequence of uplifting our status from that of mere consumers to that of producers.