Military receiving biggest investment in weaponry under Buhari – APC Legacy Awareness

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

All Progressives Congress Legacy Awareness and Campaign (APCLAC), a support group under the ruling party, has said the military is receiving the biggest investment in weaponry under President Muhammadu Buhari led government.

In a statement issued yesterday by the leaders of the group, including: the Youth representative of the APC Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) Ismail Ahmed, former National Publicity Secretary of the party, Lanre Issa-Onilu, the Director General of the APC Governors Forum, Salihu Moh. Lukman, and Tolu Ogunlesi, the group said:

“Hundreds of new platforms are being acquired for the Army, Air Force and Navy. The Nigeria Air Force has received 23 new aircraft since 2015, with at least a dozen more being expected, and the Navy has most recently acquired its first new Landing Ship Tank (LST) since 1979. The Administration has also launched a Nigeria Police Trust Fund.

“The new Police Act signed by President Buhari in 2020 incorporates the concept of Community Policing. President Buhari is a huge advocate for the re-institution by States of age-old communal security mechanisms that bring together traditional and community leaders and the Police, for the provision of credible intelligence and the resolution of conflicts and tensions as they arise.

“President Buhari has just flagged-off the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure project, to protect Nigeria’s vast waterways up to the Gulf of Guinea. In the last five years, a number of technology solutions are being deployed and implemented to support the Police, Immigration and other security agencies.

“Examples include the new Nigeria Police National Command and Control Centre (NPF-C4i); the new Nigeria Police Crime and Incident Database (NPC & IDB) Centre; the West Africa Police Information System (WAPIS), developed by INTERPOL; and the Migration and Data Analysis System (MIDAS), developed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“Addressing the underlying drivers of insecurity (poverty and youth unemployment), through programmes and policies in agriculture, manufacturing, small business support, ease of doing business, massive infrastructure investment, and many more. In this regard, the Buhari Administration has successfully lifted 10.5 million Nigerians out of poverty.

“The Federal Government has recently approved a National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy Plan, to consolidate on the successes so far, and to achieve the President’s vision of lifting a 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within a decade.”

Recalling that President Buhari had consistently highlighted the primacy of security among the components of his administration’s governing agenda by saying “We have to secure Nigeria before we can manage it efficiently. And I assure you we are going to do that,” the group said none of Nigeria’s security challenges is new.

“What is new is the boldness and commitment with which the Buhari Administration is confronting these age-old challenges. Even as several challenges persist across the country, we are confident that the interventions being implemented, many of which have not been seen in Nigeria’s recent history, will begin to yield fruit in the near future”, the group said.