Musa’s crusade for military technology could facilitate the development of science and technology in Nigeria, writes CHUKWUEMEKA UWANAKA
“All we need is to get the equipment that we are fighting with”
The quote above by General Christopher Gwabin Musa, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) during an interview in December 2024, exemplifies his position on the need for advanced foreign military technology – not foreign military bases, that will enable Nigeria comprehensively address its pressing security challenges. He also emphasized that while military kinetic force can address about 30 percent of the country’s security challenges, good governance and socioeconomic development provides 70 percent of sustainable peace and security. But with Nigeria facing its worst cost-of-living crisis due largely to structural economic reasons, the chances of Gen. Musa delivering on his peace and security responsibility, while sourcing for foreign military technology, necessitate a defence policy framework that strategically aligns the drive for acquiring military technology with economic development goals. This strategic alignment will in essence, facilitate the restructuring of Nigeria’s economy away from its heavy reliance on petroleum resources for the bulk of non-debt government revenue and foreign exchange earnings, to an economy with higher science, technology and manufacturing based earnings- essentially, the ‘whole of society’ 70 percent for peace and security.
