With just one percent of statutory allocation going to the federal government from the federation account, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) is consolidating the production of anti-ballistic missiles, bulletproof vests, and locally fabricated helicopters for the Nigerian military.
The Executive Officer of NASENI, Professor Mohammed Sani Haruna disclosed this in Abuja, shortly after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the financial standing of the organisation on Friday.
Professor Haruna said the inspiration for producing helicopters and other hardware equipment was gotten from Belgium and Indonesia, adding that personnel have been trained for mass production of the helicopters after understudying the experts.
He said the ones that have been successfully produced are awaiting approval of the Nigerian Aviation Authority and international approving body to fly.
Professor Haruna said President Buhari had given a go-ahead for the mass production of the helicopters after its approval, adding that the President also asked that the production site be moved to the Nigerian Aviation School in Zaria, Kaduna State, which already has most of the facilities, like a run-way among others.
The NASENI boss claimed the body has the capacity to produce bigger aircraft, although he was not specific if the prevailing security challenges bedevilling the country had inspired the production of the hardware.
Haruna also noted that the country was now proficient in the production of tricycles and has gone into partnership with Innoson motors for mass production.
The agency said N24 billion has been voted by the Federal Government to explore the mass production of smart solar panels to boost power supplies in the country.
He, however, lamented that paucity of funds wouldn’t have been an issue if the statutory 1% funding is gotten from the federation allocations before sharing to the constituent states.