Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
THE Honourable Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (Rtd), OFR, has issued a rallying cry to Nigerian innovators, start-ups and researchers, urging them to channel their expertise into homegrown solutions for the nation’s pressing security challenges.
Speaking at the Omniverse Africa 3.0 Summit in Lagos, the General said national security in the 21st century could no longer rely on conventional military hardware alone. Delivering the keynote address under the theme, “The 70/30 Rule: Why Nigeria’s Security and Innovation Agendas are the Same National Project,” he stressed that the country must shift from being a consumer to a producer of defence technology.
“The future requires us to complement courage with technology, foresight, industrial capability, and innovation,” General Musa said. “We must secure the nation today, but we must also build the capabilities that will secure the nation tomorrow.”
The remarks were contained in a statement signed by the Minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Leah Katung-Babatunde.
General Musa disclosed that the Ministry is currently restructuring its doctrine, acquisition processes and training to prioritise key areas, including unmanned systems and robotics, surveillance technologies, cybersecurity and resilience, secure communications, AI governance, data-driven decision tools, and advanced domestic manufacturing.
He linked the push to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for industrialisation, noting that ongoing reforms at the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) are designed to create an ecosystem where defence investments drive economic growth, high-tech jobs, university research and new commercial markets.
The Minister also launched the Defence Futures Lab Pathway, a side event convened by Kryterion to strengthen collaboration between the military and the tech ecosystem. He cautioned participants that the forum was not a procurement session, but rather a platform for capability development and strategic foresight.
“This is an opportunity to think ahead, organise better, and explore practical ways of strengthening the wider defence ecosystem,” he said.
The roundtable agreed to reconvene in three months to assess progress, review initial technology concepts, and align actions with the Federal Government’s indigenous defence strategy.
