A defence analyst, Zulaykhah Aileru, says Nigeria’s growing defence budget must translate into stronger domestic manufacturing capability backed by robust governance frameworks.
Aileru, a Public Safety and Certified Protection Professional, stated this in an opinion examining Nigeria’s defence spending and industrial made available to newsmen yesterday.
She said Nigeria’s security spending had steadily increased over the years, with estimates indicating that defence expenditure reached about 4.47 billion dollars in 2021 during peak counter-insurgency operations.
She added that the 2025 Federal Budget allocated approximately N4.9 trillion to defence and security.
According to her, while procurement is necessary to respond to immediate security threats, long-term reliance on imported platforms risks creating sustained dependency on foreign suppliers.
Aileru emphasised that defence industrialisation should focus on developing national capability, including the ability to design, maintain and adapt defence technologies locally.
She said strong governance frameworks would be critical in ensuring that defence partnerships lead to genuine industrial development.
“Partnerships must go beyond equipment assembly to ensure real technology transfer and knowledge development for Nigerian engineers and technicians,” she said.
Aileru also stressed the need for compliance with manufacturing standards, protection of intellectual property and strong cybersecurity safeguards as modern defence systems increasingly rely on digital technologies.
According to her, without clear governance structures, defence collaborations could remain procurement arrangements disguised as industrial partnerships.
Aileru said that Nigeria had the potential to emerge as a regional hub for defence manufacturing and security technologies in Africa if ongoing industrial partnerships were properly structured to ensure technology transfer and local supply chain development.
She said Nigeria’s large domestic market, growing pool of technical professionals and increasing international interest in defence collaboration placed the country in a strong position to develop a viable defence industrial base.
The defence expert noted that partnerships involving the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and private sector organisations could accelerate domestic defence manufacturing.
According to her, such collaborations must include clear provisions for technology transfer to enable Nigerian engineers and technicians acquire the expertise required to maintain, adapt and eventually design defence technologies independently.
Aileru added that integrating domestic suppliers into defence production would also strengthen local supply chains and stimulate broader industrial growth.
She said that if properly governed, Nigeria’s emerging defence partnerships could significantly enhance indigenous capability and position the country as a major defence manufacturing centre in Africa.