Nigeria: Emefiele’s Push for Local Production of Military Uniforms Gets Boost

Efforts by governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to boost local production of military uniforms have received a boost as the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, DICON, and Sur Corporate Wear Nig. Ltd entered into a joint venture Public Private Partnership, PPP, for the production of all military uniforms in the country.

The deal brokered by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, would see the factory commencing production of the uniforms in January 2023.

The DICON-Sur collaboration, which would span a concession period of 20 years, would be responsible for producing uniforms for the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and paramilitary organisations.

Emefiele had initiated off-taker deals between local textile firms and the military, with a view to halting the huge foreign exchange spent on importation of military and paramilitary uniforms.

In a meeting at the instance of the ICRC, last week, the commission’s acting Director General, Michael Ohiani, had charged all stakeholders in the DICON-Sur project to resolve all issues hindering the completion of the factory and report back to the commission in one week.

Mr. Manji Yarling, acting Head, Media and Publicity of the ICRC, in a statement, yesterday, indicated that at the rescheduled meeting, chaired by Dr. Jobson Ewalefoh, Director of the Contract Compliance Department, the ICRC, urged all stakeholders to ensure the project was completed within the stipulated time frame.

The director said the project was very important to the nation, as it would curb capital flight, create over 920 jobs and also be a thing of pride for the nation to produce its own uniforms.

He added that with time, the DICON-Sur joint venture was expected to source all its raw materials from within Nigeria to save the foreign exchange currently spent on the importation of uniforms.

He said: “The fact that we produce our military and paramilitary uniforms locally is a pride to all of us. It is a pride that we all must uphold.

“Sudan is producing their own military kits and I know DICON can do it if they have the right support.”

He assured all stakeholders that the ICRC, as part of its regulatory function, would liaise with all the relevant government agencies to fast-track the on-going process of securing approval for off-takers when production begins in January.

According him, the ICRC, through its Contract Compliance Department, CCD, will make the DICON-Sure project a priority until completion.

Speaking at the interactive meeting, Managing Director of Sur, Mr. Burhan Can Karabulut, commended the management of ICRC for intervening and ensuring that the project was hitch-free.

He said the company had so far taken the project to 68 per cent completion, adding that the remaining funds for the project would be released soon to meet the completion goal.

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