A Lagos-based constitution lawyer, Mr Jide Ologun, has applauded President Bola Tinubu for assenting to the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria Bill 2023, saying Nigerians are yearning for results.
Ologun, a former Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Ikeja Branch and public affairs analyst, made the remark in an interview on Saturday in Lagos while reacting to Tinubu’s assent on the bill.
According to him, to locally produce military equipment in the nation is wisdom and right way to go, considering the current economic challenges.
“In a season when Nigeria is under a huge and negative burden of debt, particularly driven by imported goods and services consumption, the best initiative is that which revives local production for local consumption.
“This will eventually be groomed to engage exportation space, by virtue of which we earn foreign currencies, with resultant relief for the FOREX crises currently experienced by our economy.
“Regrettably, huge sums of money got channel to purchase of Tucano jets, military helicopters and ammunition from abroad,” Ologun said.
The legal practitioner and social commentator, however, decried the Petroleum Industry Act, though applauded on arrival, was yet to profit the nation.
He urged the government to redouble efforts at making many of the reforms yield results quickly in the socio-economic life of the people.
According to him, the Act, if properly executed, will also assist in decimating insecurity through cost effective fight against terrorism and insurgency.
Ologun wished the President the best as he steered the affairs of the nation.
Tinubu, on Thursday, assented to the bill which repealed the previous iteration of the Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria Act.
The Defense Industries Corporation of Nigeria was established on Aug. 1, 1964, by an Act of Parliament and revised as the DICON Act in Chapter 94 of the Laws of the Federation, 2004.
Sponsored by the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Defense, Babajimi Benson (APC-Lagos State), the new iteration empowered the DICON to operate, maintain, and control subsidiaries and ordnance factories to manufacture, store and dispose of ordnance and ancillary stores and material.
The Act also made for the establishment of the Defense Industry Technology, Research, and Development Institute to create an elaborate scientific and research-based technological foundation for Nigeria’s defense industry.
The Act provided a comprehensive regulatory framework for the regulation of the manufacturing, distribution, storage, and disposal of defense articles in Nigeria.
It also encouraged the development of a nuanced financing architecture that enabled private capital to facilitate research, development, and production in the defense sector in a transparent and predictable fashion.
