TheCable

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) says Nigeria will begin local production of uniforms for its military and paramilitary personnel from January 2023.

The commission said this on Monday in a statement issued by Manji Yarling, acting head of media and publicity at ICRC.

According to the statement, the commission said the production project is a joint venture public-private partnership (PPP) between the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and Sur Corporate Wear.

ICRC said the partnership would lead to the creation of Sur Corporate Wear Nig. Ltd.

“The DICON-Sur collaboration, which will span a concession period of 20 years, will be responsible for producing uniforms for the army, navy, air force, police, civil defence and other military and paramilitary organisations,” the statement reads.

In a meeting at the instance of the ICRC, Micheal Ohiani, acting director-general of the commission, urged all stakeholders in the project to resolve all issues hindering the completion of the factory and report to the commission in one week.

Jobson Ewalefoh, director, contract compliance department, ICRC, also encouraged stakeholders to ensure that the project is completed within the stipulated time frame.

Ewalefoh said the project is crucial to the nation as it would curb capital flight and create over 900 jobs.

He added that as the project progressed, the DICON-Sur joint venture would be expected to begin to source all its raw materials from within Nigeria.

“The fact that we produce our military and paramilitary uniforms locally is a pride to all of us. It is a pride that we all must uphold,” Ewalefoh said.

“Sudan is producing their own military kits, and I know DICON can do it if they have the right support.”

Ewalefoh assured stakeholders that ICRC would liaise with all the relevant government agencies to fast-track the ongoing process of securing approval for off-takers when production would begin in January.

He said that ICRC, through its contract compliance department, would make the DICON- Sur project a priority and monitor its progress until completed.

Speaking at the meeting, Burhan Can Karabulut, managing Director, Sur Corporate Wear Nig. Ltd., commended ICRC management for intervening and ensuring that the project was hitch-free.

Karabulut also commended investors for agreeing to release funds for the completion of the project.

He said that the company had so far taken the project to 68 per cent completion, adding that the remaining funds for the project would be released soon to meet the completion goal.

Karabulut, however, said the designs for the uniforms had yet to be approved and as such the company cannot source its raw materials for production.

He emphasised that without the approval, the production could not begin.