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Nigeria Arms Procurement and Defense Industries
Like most Third World states, Nigeria depended largely
on
foreign sources for arms and military matériel. However,
its arms
acquisitions exhibited two distinctive features. First,
Nigeria
had one of the most internationally diversified and
balanced
defense procurement strategies. Nigeria acquired arms from
about
eight suppliers during 1978-82, tying Zaire as the most
diversified sub-Saharan state (see
table 20, Appendix).
Its
largest supplier during that period, West Germany,
provided only
about one-third of its US$845 million total. This
diversified
pattern became even more pronounced in the mid-1980s.
During
1983-87, Nigeria imported military matériel valued at
US$1.5
billion from about ten major suppliers--more than any
other
African state, and Italy, its largest supplier, accounted
for
only 23 percent.
Nigeria relied on equally diverse foreign suppliers of
military technical services, while making gradual progress
toward
indigenization. A long-standing, military training
arrangement
with Britain ended in late 1986 with the Nigerianization
of
training. West German assistance was engaged to improve
the Navy
Technical Training Centre at Sapele, which was set up and
operated with the help of Dornier (Nigeria). A West German
firm
also received a contract in late 1987 to upgrade radar and
weapons systems for Aradu, the German Meko-360H
class
frigate. The Czechoslovak defense minister visited Nigeria
in
late 1987 and offered to assist in expanding arms
production
efforts. Yugoslavia offered to train NAF pilots, and
Bulgaria
provided equipment maintenance services. In May 1989,
Nigeria
discussed with Romania cooperation between their air
forces and
the manufacture and maintenance of tanks, armored
personnel
carriers, and other military vehicles and possible
modernization
of Nigeria's T-55 tanks. In October 1989, the chief of
army staff
made a ten-day official visit to France and China to
explore
military cooperation.
Defense ties with Third World countries were especially
notable. In addition to military cooperation with African
countries, Nigeria concluded defense cooperation, military
personnel, and exchange agreements with the Republic of
Korea
(South Korea); Nigeria also discussed naval cooperation,
especially officer training, with India
(see Local and Bilateral Issues;
African and Regional Issues
, this ch.). Military
ties
with Brazil expanded considerably after conclusion of a
1983
military cooperation accord. The two countries established
a
joint committee in December 1985 to examine military
training and
exchange programs, and their joint military-naval exercise
in
December 1987 ended with a pledge to pursue more extensive
cooperation.
United States arms transfers and security assistance to
Nigeria were modest. During fiscal years (FY) 1972-90,
United
States Foreign Military Sales deliveries and licensed
commercial
exports of defense articles and services totaled US$63
million
and US$110.8 million, respectively. Previously, during FY
1962-72
the United States had provided International Military
Education
and Training (IMET) grants valued at US$1.5 million to
train 480
Nigerian military personnel. After a thirteen-year hiatus,
IMET
grants were renewed in FY 1986 and have been funded
annually
since at more than US$90,000 for more than twenty
students. A
total of 585 Nigerian military students had participated
in the
IMET program by FY 1990.
Nigeria's fledgling domestic defense industry was the
second
distinctive source of military matériel, particularly for
small
arms, ammunition, and maintenance and repair services. The
stateowned Defence Industries Corporation (DIC), established in
1964,
geared up to produce ammunition during the civil war. By
the
1970s, its facilities in Kaduna produced West
German-designed HK
G-3 rifles, BM-59 and PM-12 handguns, and 7.62mm and 9mm
parabellum ammunition. Lack of financial and management
support,
however, impeded further progress until the DIC was
reenergized
in 1984 by then army chief of staff Babangida. After
becoming
president, Babangida expanded the DIC to increase
Nigeria's selfreliance .
In 1977 the army decided to standardize its infantry
weapons
with Belgian FAL assault rifles, Browning GP pistols, and
MAG
machine guns. In 1978 licensed production rights were
acquired,
and in 1980 the DIC's facilities in Kaduna were adapted
and
upgraded by Belgian technicians to assemble these weapons.
Production began in 1983; full production capacity was
achieved
in 1987; and the next year the DIC was reported to be
relying
entirely on local raw materials and to be producing all
the basic
rifles and ammunition the army and police used. Its annual
production capacity was 15,000 FAL rifles, 9,000 to 10,000
GP
pistols, and 1,000 MAG machine guns. The FAL rifle entered
service in 1989 as the NR-1.
In addition to the small arms and ammunition factories
at
Kaduna, newer facilities for the assembly of armored
fighting
vehicles and light tanks were under development at Bauchi
in
1990. Austrian Steyr 680M 4x4 tactical military trucks
were
reportedly assembled there, and it was also planned to
produce
Pinzgauer light tracked armored vehicles and Steyr 4K 7FA
tracked
armored personnel carriers. By 1987 the DIC employed 2,000
to
3,000 people at its Kaduna and Bauchi plants. Indications
of a
nascent commercial defense industry included a
manufacturer in
Anambra State whose inexpensive jeeps included military
models
being tested by the army; a local service industry to
supply
uniforms, accoutrements, and selected ordnance matériel;
and
increased domestic souring for aircraft and naval ship
components
and maintenance services. Local assembly of West German
MBB Bo105 helicopters for the air force was also contemplated.
Further
progress hinged on the availability of foreign capital and
technology, joint ventures, and export opportunities,
especially
for rifles and ammunition.
On its silver anniversary April 22, 1989, the air force
unveiled and conducted a test flight of a prototype of
Nigeria's
first domestically built aircraft, the Air Beetle. Jointly
built
over two years by the NAF and a West German Kaduna-based
firm
from the design of the United States Van RV-6 sport
aircraft, the
Air Beetle had the unique feature of being able to fly on
standard automobile fuel. This two-seat, single engine
airplane
was intended to be the primary trainer for the NAF,
replacing the
aging British Bulldog trainers. The production program
called for
sixty units by 1992 and eventual development of an
improved
version, the Super Air Beetle. In early 1990, the first
export
orders were reported, and forty aircraft of the first
production
run were scheduled for delivery to foreign customers.
Under a national aircraft maintenance policy approved
in
1987, depots were being set up around the country with the
aim of
achieving complete overhaul capability for all civil and
military
aircraft. In July 1988, a task force to implement the
national
aircraft maintenance center was inaugurated. The center
will be a
civilian organization with the capability to service,
maintain,
and overhaul military aircraft and components. In 1989 the
air
force was directed to indigenize 50 percent of its
maintenance
work within ten years. The manufacture of such basic
aircraft
components and spare parts as hydraulic units and
actuators,
brakes, and plastic passenger cabin parts had also begun
by the
late 1980s. These domestic production and technical
service
industries were intended to save foreign exchange, to
foster
self-reliance, and to promote a local technological and
industrial base.
The navy also turned increasingly to local suppliers
for
spare parts and maintenance services. In mid-1989 about 40
percent of the spare parts for naval vessels reportedly
had been
produced in Nigeria, and the navy saved N20 million at
that time
(for value of the
naira--see Glossary)
by using locally made
parts including propeller shafts and generator parts. The
new
navy dockyard, opened at the end of 1990 at Victoria
Island near
Lagos, will eventually have the capacity to boost domestic
production of spare parts for ships to 70 percent of
requirements
and to permit future modification and even construction of
ships.
Data as of June 1991
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