As part of efforts to secure the nation and protect her territorial integrity, the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, says the Armed Forces of Nigeria require two hundred million rounds of ammunition annually for their operations.
He said the volume would cost the Federal Government at least two dollars per ammunition.
The minister disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Defence through the Defence Industries Corporations of Nigeria (DICON) and the National Agency for Science and Engineering (NASENI) on the establishment of an ammunition production factory in Nigeria.
He blamed past governments for the nation’s failure to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of military hardware.
Matawalle assured Nigerians that the Defence Industries Corporation will in the next three years export its military capabilities through local manufacturing of military hardware.