"In-house" weapon development allows Nigerians to avoid international restrictions and build self-reliance in defense capabilities, Colonel Nanpon Gambo, an engineer and procurement officer of the Nigerian Army Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps, told Sputnik Africa.
Nigeria has been following this strategy for decades; that is why now it is capable of producing its own drones, the officer pointed out.
Current efforts concentrate on training the manpower in technical skills so that local specialists could supervise the future homegrown weapon production on their own, he added.
Regional Cooperation in Defense Industry is Long-Term Goal for Nigeria, Officer Says
"West Africa would definitely want to acquire" weapons from Nigeria because it prioritizes "affordability, maintainability, and reliability" while producing them, according to Gambo.
"Definitely it's going to be cheaper than acquiring from other countries because the strategy for the development of weapon systems in Nigeria, including drones, is to use local materials and technologies as much as possible," he noted.
Moreover, Nigerian engineers abroad have developed advanced technologies that can be brought home and replicated using local resources, the colonel pointed out.