Army, DICON and Unilorin sign MoU on the manufacture of composites for armour plating, military hardware

The signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Nigerian Army, Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and University of Ilorin on the development of composite material for Armour Plating and other military hardwares took place at the Army headquarters, Abuja today being the 1st day of July 2020.

This remarkable event is aimed at reducing the over-dependence of the importation of foreign equipment, production of indigenous metal materials, reduction of foreign exchange rates to boost the Nigeria’s economy, amongst several other benefits.

Signing the MoU by the trio parties, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai extolled the importance of the collaborative event ,saying it will yield unprecedented gains not just to the parties but Nigeria as a country and other foreign countries.

Gen. Butatai said, the signing of MoU will improve in human capacity development amongst member parties, enhance mutual benefits and its products will be marketable not just in Nigeria but also to other foreign countries.

According to him, the collaboration of the trio parties was premise on the Executive Order 005 of 2018, signed by the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), for the development of local content in science, engineering and technology (SET).

According to Gen. Buratai, the executive order was aimed at promoting indigenous technology that could assist in the production of both civil and military hardware.

“It is in this vein, that the Nigerian Army seeks to collaborate with indigenous professionals in planning, designing and execution of projects to enhance national security”.

COAS who was represented by Lt. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, Chief of Policy and Plans,(COPP) therefore thanked the Nigerian Army System and Research Development Centre (NASDC), DICON and all the relevant stakeholders for achieving the feat in science, technology, and research development.

He however urged the both parties to ensure that a a holistic implementation is achieved

Earlier in his speech, the Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Prof. Suleiman Abdulkareem boasted, the signing of the MoU avails them with the opportunity to be committed to ensuring the necessity of doing great things that were not been done elsewhere in the world.

According to him, he was glad with the cooperation between the University and the Nigerian Army as it will prepare the minds of those in sciences, including physical Sciences and Engineering to be ready to focus their opinion of what could be done to improve the status of military men in the area of cooperation and sharing potent ideas for a common goal.

He therefore noted that Nigeria has enormous resources that if properly harnessed will add value to the industry and thanked the Nigerian Army for making the signing of the MoU a reality.

Also speaking, the Director General of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, Maj. Gen. Victor Ezugwu said, the industry has manufactured different varieties of Ezugwu Mine Resistance Vehicles MRAPS and other military hardware.

According to him, composite materials which are used for the production of ballistic vests, Armour plating amongst other is imported in China with high cost noting that if the local metals are harnessed, it will bring about a reduction in the nation’s dependency on foreign military equipment, thereby saving hard-earned foreign exchange in the country, hence the necessity of the cooperation of the three institutions.

“It will also boost the development of indigenous capacity in research and development, especially towards attaining self-sufficiency in the production of both civil and military hardware, together with other sampling products,” he stated.