Nigeria, China plan collaboration on military training, arms production

China announces CN¥1bn grant for Nigeria, others, to train over 7,000 military personnel

The Federal Government says it is deepening its security partnership with the People’s Republic of China for local arms production and military training.

It says this forms part of its broader strategy to tackle terrorism and other forms of insecurity within and outside its borders.

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, stated this when he briefed State House correspondents after President Bola Tinubu received China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.

Wang Yi is on a four-nation week-long Africa tour, which ends on Saturday after stops in Namibia, DR Congo, Nigeria and Chad.

Tuggar stated that bolstering cooperation with key partners like China would help Nigeria and its neighbours respond to shared threats more efficiently.

“We want to work with countries like China in domesticating production of military equipment, both kinetic and non-kinetic.

“We’re looking for this, so, we don’t have to go out looking to procure with delays and many rules and regulations. We need to be able to produce locally,” he said.

Tuggar’s statement follows comments by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, who said arms procurement was the military’s tightest bottleneck.

In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, General Musa explained that lengthy regulations often delayed deliveries that desperately needed by frontline troops.

The Defence Chief said this challenge, combined with the government’s drive for self-reliance, was driving Nigeria to seek ways of domesticating arms production with Chinese support.

During an operational visit to the frontline troops of Operation Safe Haven in Plateau State, Musa said the military high command might recruit skilled law-abiding citizens to locally produce firearms and military-grade equipment.

Speaking on Thursday, Tuggar re-echoed this stance and dispelled notions that Nigeria would rely on private military companies to tackle its security challenges. He also underscored Nigeria’s role as a leader in West Africa’s security, particularly in the Sahel.

“Let us work together towards solving our problems by ourselves. Let us shun this idea of allowing others to solve our problems for us. So, private military companies, as far as we are concerned, don’t matter whether they’re from north, south, east, or west. We don’t think it is going to provide the panacea,” Tuggar said.