Minister Says Nigeria Has No Reason To Buy Arms

Ogbonnaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology, has said that Nigeria has no need to buy arms for the war against the deadly Boko Haram sect. Onu, speaking during his inaugural meeting with the directors and heads in the ministry, espoused his vision for Nigeria. He said that Science and Tech Ministry is at the middle of three main pledges of security; job creation and fight against corruption, which were made by the APC government. The minister gave the assurance of his firmness to research the nations’ potentials in science and technology in resolving the issue of insecurity across Nigeria. Minister Onu said: ‘‘When we needed weapons to fight insurgents in the North East, it was difficult, even with our own money. Why do we need to go outside to buy weapons? When we have able men and materials that can manufacture most of the military equipment that we need. ‘‘India was buying weapons before but is now in a position to produce what they need, the defense industry we have in Kaduna was established at the same time with that of Brazil, but today theirs can manufacture aircraft, ships, tanks but ours will take a very long time unless we act very urgently. ‘‘Our ministry is very strategic as far as securing the nation is concerned. In the area of growing our economy, for too long, we have been a consuming nation; we import most of our needs. ‘‘We export wood but we import tooth pick, we export crude oil and import petroleum products, we export cocoa but import chocolate, this can be very disturbing. ‘‘The missing link is that the key we need to open the door for prosperity is missing, despite having all it takes to be a great nation.’’ Onu, who was sworn in as a minister a week ago, recently stated that he would striveto be the best minister in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.