By Gift Chapi Odekina, Abuja The House of Representatives on Wednesday called for the establishment of a National Drone Industrialisation Policy to strengthen Nigeria’s defence manufacturing capacity and enhance the country’s response to security challenges. The lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to provide structured financial support to indigenous drone manufacturers, including Beirech UAS, Terra Industries, Elites Group, Pro-force and the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), through the Bank of Industry, Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and other financing platforms. The support, they said, would enable local manufacturers to scale production and meet military procurement standards.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Ademorin Kuye on the need for a strategic policy framework to develop Nigeria’s drone industry. Leading the debate, Kuye expressed concern over the worsening security situation in the country, citing terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and pipeline vandalism as challenges that had continued to strain the capacity of the Armed Forces and other security agencies.
He noted that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, had become critical tools in modern warfare, intelligence gathering, surveillance and counter-insurgency operations. The lawmaker warned that terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), had deployed commercial drones in attacks against Nigerian troops. However, he said Nigeria had recorded progress in indigenous drone technology, citing the development of the Tsaigumi UAV by the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2018 as evidence of the country’s growing capability.
Kuye said Nigeria had the human capital, technological potential and industrial base to become Africa’s leading drone technology hub if supported by deliberate government policies, investment and legislative reforms. “The House is concerned that Nigeria, with a pool of engineering talent, a growing technology entrepreneurship ecosystem, existing military-industrial partnerships and the largest economy in Africa, possesses the foundational conditions to become the hub for drone technology, provided there is structured government policy, capital and legislative support,” he said. He, however, lamented that the country’s drone manufactu…
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