Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) has signed a $13 million agreement with a Turkish firm, Sur Corporatewear for the manufacture of military and para-military clothing and accessories under the Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The Partnership will require Sur Corporatewear to develop made- in- Nigeria brand of textile materials and accessories and in addition inject a total sum of $13million required to finance the enterprise.
According to him, the Turkish firm will revitalize the Nigeria’s textile industry through the development of cotton farms and state of the art cotton milling plants across the Northern part of the country.
He said: “You will recall that in the bid to meet the requirement of the Arm Forces of Nigeria and other security Agencies, His Excellency President Muhammed Buhari directed the Ministry of Defence to articulate a proposal for the establishment of a Military Industrial Complex gear towards the Local Production of Arms, Ammunition, Defence related equipment and hardwares to meet our domestic requirements.
“Pursuant to these directives and in line with recommendation of the Presidential committee constituted to review the structure, operation and activities of DICON in 2014 the MOD commenced a number of initiatives intended to reposition DICON with a view to enhancing its production capabilities and efficiency. One of such initiatives is the Public Private Partnership between DICON and Sur Corpeoratewear based on build operate and transfer”.
He explained: “The journey of this partnership began in February, 2018 when Sur Coperatewear made a presentation to officials of DICON, infrastructural concession regulatory Commission (ICRC) and Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) on its desire to establish a Military and Para-Military clothing factory in DICON’s ordinance factory in Kaduna.
