Small Arms: PMB Directs NASENI To Work With Defence Industry

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday directed the National Agency for Science and Engineering
Infrastructure (NASENI) to explore ways of working with the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), Kaduna, to manufacture the light weapons it had designed.

Buhari gave the directive when the executive vice chairman of NASENI, Prof. Mohammed Haruna, led other officials of the Agency to present the designs of light weapons and other products locally manufactured by NASENI, as well as to brief him on the Agency’s state of affairs, at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Other NASENI inventions presented to President Buhari yesterday included laboratory equipment and a new energy-saving LED lamp products.

The president also directed NASENI to collaborate with state governments to ensure that its solar producing facilities are henceforth used for electrification purposes in states.

Buhari urged the agency to do more to publicize its inventions for the benefit of Nigerians, by working with the media to create the awareness about the local products it was inventing for the benefit of the country.

Speaking after NASENI’s presentation to him, President Buhari observed that unless the agency’s inventions were adopted and further developed by manufacturers, the country and ordinary Nigerians would never enjoy the fruits of its good work.

A statement by senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, noted that Buhari was impressed by the achievements and inventions presented to him.

“Looking at your work – the laboratory equipment, the weapons designs – these are things that can save us resources if you can coordinate with existing specialist agencies and work together”, Shehu quoted Buhari as telling the NASENI chief executive, Prof. Haruna.

Speaking to journalists after meeting with the president, the NASENI boss said apart from directing that they should collaborate with states and MDAs on rural electrification, Buhari also directed the utilization of the scientific kits being produced by NASENI for intervention in the education sector.

Haruna said, “He (president) directed that we must collaborate with relevant MDAs to ensure that there is synergy; also that we should have patronage of the Governors’ Forum of the products that have been produced in NASENI so that they can meet some of their challenges in their states – that is – to meet up their rural electrification with our solar manufacturing facilities, small hydro, and intervention in education with the scientific kits we have.

“Other MDAs such as Defence, Ministry of Trade and Investment (are) to liaise with us such that, with the technologies that are mature in our system, SMEs can be supported to take these to the market.”

Haruna noted that the president is the chairman of the governing board of NASENI, which explains why the Agency reports directly to him.

On the assurance the president gave them, he said, “The assurance he gave us are the directives. He also asked the Ministry of Finance to look at the issues we presented and why they had not been achieved.

“Some of the challenges before us are lack of funding, specifically what is stated in the Act establishing NASENI – the funding has never been accessed. So many other directives were given that will ensure successful industrial revolution of Nigeria.”