$1bn Loan: Military Needs To Replace 25-year-old Ammunition, Equipment, Says Obanikoro

The minister of state for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro has explained why the federal government needs to acquire new equipment, arms and ammunition for the Nigerian military, saying the new acquisition of military hard ware will put a quick end to insurgency.Obanikoro, who said this over the weekend, also noted that though the Nigerian military was well motivated to fight oil theft and the Boko Haram insurgency, the need to upgrade the equipment level of the military and put a quick end to insurgency made it expedient to acquire new equipment.The minister who spoke during a familiarisation tour of the headquarters of the Central Naval Command, Bayelsa State, said the failure to acquire new and modern equipment for the military was part of the reason the security action against Boko Haram insurgency was difficult.He was received at the command by the flag officer commanding, CNC, Rear Admiral Peter Agba and other senior officers of the command, after which he dismissed insinuations that the military were not well motivated in the fight against terrorism and oil theft in the Niger Delta as President Goodluck Jonathan stood out as one president that had done much in terms of military motivation.Obanikoro said, It is not true that the military is not well motivated. We must recognise and appreciate the effort of President Goodluck Jonathan since he came on board. I can tell you that in the last 25 years, we have not made major acquisitions in terms of platforms for the Navy, ammunition and equipment generally for the military.It is Jonathan that has started doing that now and it is as a result of neglect that we are suffering today. But that we are also trying to overcome with this new acquisition.There is no doubt that we have both men and women who can deliver under any situation and they are acclaimed worldwide to be among the best.If they can solve issues outside, why will they not be able to solve issues at home'That capacity is there and the president in his wisdom is giving them 100 per cent to ensure that they are not lacking anything.He said the military had the capacity to deal with the security challenges in the country, adding that the federal government was in the process of doing more recruitment for the military.We are in the process of doing more recruitment; they are the ones we have and the purpose of keeping them is to save the country when situations like these arise.Do not forget that we had a time when we did not have anything to deal with and the military was just there. Now that we have challenges to deal with, I think that is the essence of having a strong military. In fact, it is not in our interest for them to be idle. Now they are active; they are working very hard.He said he recognised that if the country did not increase the capacity of the mililitary, situations such as oil theft and insurgency would become a challenge.He stressed that when a country had such a challenge there was no way it could win the war on terrorism.We have also recognised that and we are being proactive in that area. So, we are training more men, adding to their capacity to perform, bringing in more arms and ensuring that what we have does not overwhelm us, Obanikoro said.
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