Heavy investments in military hardware highest under Buhari’s administration – Permanent Secretary

Heavy investments in military hardware highest under Buhari’s administration – Permanent Secretary

The permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Dr. Abubakar Kana mni has applauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for investing heavily in military hardware and operations, saying that the administration’s investment is highest since independence.

The Permanent Secretary who made this known to the press recently in Abuja during the President Muhammadu Buhari’s scorecard series which featured the Ministry of Defence, said that before 2015, the Nigerian Armed Forces were ill-equipped and as a result, were unable to tackle the numerous security challenges that confronted the nation.He stated that since the inception of this administration, through the visionary leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, there have been massive investments in the acquisition and activation of military hardware and operation, one of the reasons the military has been able to significantly improve the internal security in the country, incapacitate insurgency and armed banditry and protect the nation’s offshore assets.

Going down the memory lane, Dr. Kana recalled that the last time fighter jets were procured in large quantities in Nigeria was in 1979 when President Shehu Shagari procured several fighter jets including the Alpha Jets. Since then, according to the Permanent Secretary, Nigeria as a nation has continued to manage those platforms for its defence operations until the advent of the Buhari’s administration.

“Through the visionary leadership, ingenuity and commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari, 42 years after, Nigeria today has been able to carry out Periodic Depot Maintenance of it’s largest troop-carrying plane – the C-130 Hercules aircraft, in the country. This feat has positioned the NAF to comfortably support INEC to deliver election materials across the countryDr. Kana said.

According to the Permanent Secretary, “the complexity of today’s security issues necessitates the use of cutting-edge hardware and equipment to combat and subdue terrorists, bandits, and other global security threats. The military is expected to have more equipment and operational capabilities than the terrorists.” “Unfortunately, this was not so in the past. The reason we have won the fight so far is because the Nigerian military is far ahead the military in terms of capacity and intelligence. No nation wins a war without investing in military hardware. We have won because the government invested massively in equipment and operations” Dr. Kana said.

Recall that during the presentation of the Ministry’s scorecard, the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi (rtd) had rated President Muhammadu Buhari high for his unprecedented and massive investment in military hardware, stating that such investments had placed the country in vantage position to protect the country against terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other elements that constitute as threats to national security.

According to the Minister, Nigerian Navy (NN) for instance had embarked on “aggressive Fleet Recapitalization, the acquisition of Capital Ships, Fast Patrol Boats, Inshore Patrol Crafts and more.” The NN, the Defence Boss said, had “witnessed extensive procurement of platforms of different types and mix. The Government funded the procurement of 381 flat bottom, assault, rigid hull, riverine patrol and whaler boats. Importantly, about 200 of these riverine patrol boats were built in-country, thus complementing indigenous shipbuilding capacity, employment generation and skills acquisition.”

According to Bashir Salihi Magashi, the Federal Government had acquired 38 brand new aircraft to boost training and combat readiness of the NAF since 2015, including include 10 Super Mushshak trainer aircraft, 5 Mi-35M helicopter gunships and 2 Bell 412 helicopters. Others are 4 Agusta 109 Power attack helicopters, 2 Mi-171E helicopters, 3 JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter aircraft and more recently, 12 A-29 Super Tucano aircraft in addition to a number of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs).“In the same vein, the NAF has sustained reactivation of hitherto unserviceable platforms to upscale its capabilities in tackling insurgency, terrorism, armed banditry and other forms of criminality. To this end, 17 previously grounded aircraft including the, Super Puma, F-7Ni, EC-135, DO-228, Mi-24V, Mi-35P, C-130H, L-39ZA and Alpha Jet have been reactivated. Also, the Falcon 900 and ATR 42 aircraft had undergone C-Checks inspection at facilities outside the country” Magashi said.

By PRNigeria