By Sunny Anderson Osiebe...
Senate
President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday expressed the
readiness of the National Assembly to support the Nigerian Air Force in
the development and deployment of Made-In-Nigeria technology
in its operations.
Saraki,
according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, in
Abuja, gave the pledge in his remarks as guest of honour at the Nigerian
Air Force Research and Development (R&D) competition
and exhibition held in Kaduna.
"Nigeria must
maximize the applicability of the cutting edge designs that are on
display today — and the countless others that we have neglected over the
years," Saraki said. "As we do this, we must
begin to look inwards in order to provide funding for these ideas that
can help us address our current security challenges and advance our
military technology."
The Senate
President who was represented by the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on
Air Force, Senator Ali Wakili, added that: "We must seek them out from
wherever they may lie in our people by providing
them with a platform to grow. As you must be well aware, with our
institutional push towards marketing ‘Made in Nigeria’ ideas, ideals,
goods and services to the rest of the world, the Air Force has a staunch
partner in the National Assembly.
"I want you to
also know that as you work to expand the scope of these ideas, the
National Assembly is ready and willing to do all that it takes to help
you get them off the ground through the appropriation
process," he said.
The Senate
President reiterated that the Senate, through the passage of laws like
the Public Procurement Act and the ongoing consideration of the Federal
Competition Bill, would continue to work
to provide the legal platforms to enable local enterprise and
innovation.
While commending the
leadership of the Air Force for leading the way in innovation and local
content development, Saraki said: "We will continue to
tweak our laws to provide level playing fields that will allow our
local innovators and entrepreneurs to benefit from the over N2 trillion
Naira that is available each year in the Public Procurement Process.
"Just last
week, the Senate pushed Nigeria one step closer to joining the ranks of
countries in the world with research and development institutions that
are dedicated to the advancement of their domestic aerospace and
aviation sectors. This occurred with the passage of the Air Force Institute of Technology establishment Bill.
"With this
legislative framework in place, it is my hope that we will be able to
build on the work that we have seen displayed here today, and enhance
our strategic standing amongst our allies in
West Africa and around the world.
"This can be achieved through the implementation of some of this research and the mass production of many of these designs. Today’s event has demonstrated
that Nigeria has ample potential," he said.
He insisted that
there is need for concerted investment to maximize the value of the
nation's local content development efforts.
He further noted
that there is need for the legislature and the executive to begin
work towards the actualization of a new and improved Armed Forces
through local content development.
"We must also
broaden our vision for the Air Force and all our other security forces,"
he said. "I strongly believe that if we are serious about developing
our security and weapons industry, with
a public and private sector driven approach, we can achieve near
self-sufficiency by the year 2036. However, we must start now.
"We can achieve
this by: Partnering with the private sector to develop our homegrown
innovation; Placing a priority on subsidizing the cost of doing business
for these industries, and Investing in
these sectors during the appropriations process.
"By doing this,
we can gradually phase out the old and acquired tools that we currently
use, and phase in the new products, processes and services from our
local content developers that will not only
strengthen our military response capabilities, but also make Nigeria
self-sufficient and safer.
"Doing
this would allow us to maximize and expand on the new knowledge being
developed by our countrymen and women, and begin competing in earnest in
international
markets by pushing out our own original local content to the world at
large. This vision is achievable only if we keep our eyes on the ball and be resilient as a people," Saraki said.
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