By Reloaded News Desk

Nigeria must strengthen indigenous defence technology and reduce excessive dependence on foreign suppliers, a former Director-General of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), retired Maj.-Gen. Nnaemeka Maduegbunam, has said.

Maduegbunam made the call in Abuja during the presentation of his book, We Can Do It – Towards Nigeria’s Self-Reliance in Science and Technology.

He said Nigeria’s experience with the revitalisation of DICON demonstrated that the country possessed the technical and human capacity to develop, maintain and refurbish sophisticated defence equipment.

According to him, foreign vendors had previously demanded between $8 billion and $12 billion to refurbish DICON, while the organisation was eventually revived with about $1 billion through a more internally focused approach.

He argued that Nigeria could address some equipment challenges at lower cost by making better use of local engineers, technicians and available resources.

Maduegbunam also cautioned against assuming that foreign partnerships automatically provide the technology and capacity needed for long-term self-reliance.

He said DICON had demonstrated its ability to refurbish and produce defence equipment while reducing costs.

Former Minister of Power, Prof. Bathlomew Nnaji, who chaired the occasion, said strengthening local defence production could conserve foreign exchange and expand Nigeria’s technological capacity.

The call comes as Nigeria continues to face security challenges requiring sustained investment in equipment, technology and domestic defence manufacturing.