Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, was on a two days working visit to key military institutions which includes Nigerian Defence Academy, Nigerian Army Command Engineering Depot (CED), Buffalo Engineering Technical Services Limited (BETSL) and Nigerian Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) all in Kaduna State.

The minister was accompanied by high-ranking officers including Major General M.L.D. Saraso, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1 Division; Major General A.K. Ibrahim, The Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy and Air Vice Marshal Sani Labaran Rabe, Commandant of AFIT, along with other senior military officers.

The minister revealed that Nigeria is steadily moving from dependence on foreign military procurement to local production ranging from combat vehicles, arms, ammunition and other military equipment, as well as repairs and refurbishment of military hardware, which marks a significant stride towards self-reliance for enhanced national security.

The minister praised their ongoing efforts in Training, local production and refurbishing of military assets. He said: “Training remains a vital pillar in achieving Nigeria’s defence objectives.

I equally inspected several workshops and saw impressive potentials and progress on repairs and refurbishing of completely burnt and damaged MRAPs, Tanks, and APC vehicles.