The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd), has called on Nigerian innovators, startups, and researchers to direct their expertise toward developing homegrown solutions to the nation’s security challenges.
Speaking at the Omniverse Africa 3.0 Summit in Lagos, Musa said national security in the 21st century could no longer depend solely on conventional military hardware.
Delivering the keynote address on the theme, “The 70/30 Rule: Why Nigeria’s Security and Innovation Agendas are the Same National Project,” he stressed the need for Nigeria to transition from a consumer to a producer of defence technology.
“The future requires us to complement courage with technology, foresight, industrial capability, and innovation,” the Minister stated, adding, “We must secure the nation today, but we must also build the capabilities that will secure the nation tomorrow.”
Musa disclosed that the Ministry is restructuring its doctrine, acquisition processes, and training to prioritise areas including unmanned systems and robotics, surveillance technologies, cybersecurity and resilience, secure communications, AI governance, data-driven decision tools, and advanced domestic manufacturing.
He linked the push to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for industrialisation, noting ongoing reforms at the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) is to create an ecosystem where defence investments drive economic growth, high-tech jobs, university research, and new commercial markets.
The Minister also launched the Defence Futures Lab Pathway, a side event convened by Kryterion to strengthen collaboration between the military and the tech ecosystem. He cautioned participants that the forum was not a procurement session but a platform for capability development and strategic foresight.
“This is an opportunity to think ahead, organise better, and explore practical ways of strengthening the wider defence ecosystem,” he said.
The Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Defence, Leah Katung-Babatunde, said in a press release that the roundtable agreed to reconvene in three months to assess progress, review initial technology concepts, and align actions with the Federal Government’s indigenous defence strategy.
