The Nigerian government has announced a partnership with China to produce military equipment locally, aiming to reduce reliance on foreign supplies and avoid delays.
The collaboration was revealed during a joint press conference held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The briefing featured Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, and China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who was on an official visit.
Ambassador Tuggar emphasized the importance of self-reliance in addressing Nigeria’s security challenges.
“Nigeria has consistently proved effective in leading other countries in our region, and I would even say, on the continent at large, in addressing challenges to peace and security.
“And we do this whenever we partner with other countries and have their support, including major powers that are outside of our region, outside of Africa, and we appreciate that sort of approach.
“And this is why we work well with countries like China. Where we have a problem is whenever Nigeria is left out of such arrangements, it becomes more challenging.
“And it’s not just a one-off thing. It’s not a fluke. It is because of Nigeria’s place and position on the continent and in our region. And that’s why we take a firm stand and say, let us work together towards solving our problems by ourselves.
“Let us shun this idea of allowing others to come in to solve our problems for us.
“So private military companies, as far as we are concerned, it doesn’t matter whether they’re from north, south, east, west; we don’t think it is going to provide the panacea.
“But when you work with us, then we’re able to lead others in solving the problem.
“And also, we want to work with countries like China in domesticating production of military equipment, both kinetic and non-kinetic.
“This is what we’re looking for. So that we don’t have to go out looking to procure because of the delays and so many rules and regulations. We need to be able to produce locally.
“Nigeria is a very responsible country working with the Constitution. And we’ve never had any expansionist tendencies, which is why others reposed so much confidence in us and in our leadership.
“We will continue to work with countries such as China in addressing these challenges and rely on countries such as China, also, to work with us towards ensuring that private military country companies outside interference remains outside.”
