Nigerian Army, TETFund Join Forces On Drone Warfare, Local Arms Production
Anne Osemekeh & Alice Etuka, Abuja
The Nigerian Army and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) are deepening their partnership to build local capacity in drone warfare, robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and arms production, as the country moves to reduce dependence on imported military hardware.
Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, disclosed the plan on Tuesday while receiving the TETFund Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono at the Army Headquarters in Abuja.
The meeting focused on expanding collaboration between the two institutions in areas of defence technology, human capacity development, and emerging innovations critical to emerging warfare.
Shaibu who spoke about the army’s ambitions and limitations, especially with regards to shortage of trained personnel, disclosed that the military was actively scaling up its drone and arms production programmes to face the challenges.
“We are pushing more in the area of drone warfare and armament development, and we are also looking at sponsoring children to become pioneers in these areas, but the requisite manpower is lacking. So we are seeking your help in that area,” he told the TETFund boss.
He called on TETFund to sponsor specialised training programmes for army officers in armament technology, drone warfare, robotics and artificial intelligence, a move he said would directly address the manpower gap and build sustainable expertise.
Speaking on the cost of continued reliance on foreign military suppliers, the Army Chief said, “the more we continue importing arms, it will remain difficult for us until we begin producing our own,” stressing on the need to build local production capacity.
In his remarks, Echono who described the visit as partly a gesture of appreciation for the military’s role in protecting educational institutions, said TETFund was eager to explore the technological frontiers being opened by the armed forces.
“As technology advances, a lot of technological innovations are being carried out by the military and we are looking forward to exploring areas such as robotics, Artificial Intelligence and other advancements being pioneered by the military,” he said.
He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to defence-related research and innovation, saying that TETFund would continue to support the armed forces in areas aligned with national development priorities.
“We want to reiterate our assurances that we will continue to support the Armed Forces in every way possible,” Echono said.
