NIGERIA has spent a staggering ₦804.10 billion on the importation of arms and ammunition between 2020 and the second quarter of 2025, according to new figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
News Point Nigeria reports that the revelations have ignited fresh debate over the country’s reliance on foreign suppliers, despite government reforms aimed at reviving the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and promoting self-sufficiency in arms manufacturing.
Data from the NBS show an inconsistent but upward trend in arms imports:
2020 – ₦29.24bn
2021 – ₦72.50bn
2022 – ₦28.24bn
2023 – ₦127.16bn
2024 – ₦520.02bn (the single highest year on record)
H1 2025 – ₦26.95bn
For context, imports in the first half of 2024 stood at just ₦11.76bn, but skyrocketed to ₦508.25bn in the second half.
Stakeholders say the numbers expose the slow pace of domestic capacity-building, even after President Bola Tinubu signed the DICON Act 2023, which sought to create a modern military-industrial complex through public-private partnerships.
Industry groups including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), the National Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI), and the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) warn that continued import dependence is draining scarce foreign exchange and exposing Nigeria to political manipulation from supplier nations.
“Self-sufficiency, or reduction in dependence on imported arms, will greatly enhance the capacity to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria,” said Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General of MAN.
He stressed that local production would save foreign exchange, shield Nigeria from embargoes, and even position the country as a future exporter of defence equipment.
NASSI’s Vice President, Segun Kuti-George, linked the ballooning import bill to weak local research and education gaps. He urged Nigerian universities to integrate practical engineering and prototype development into their curricula.
“God help you if your supplier is a friend of your attacker. Encouraging local manufacturing is very important,” Kuti-George warned.
Similarly, CPPE Director Muda Yusuf called heavy imports a threat to sovereignty: “When it comes to security matters, the less import-dependent a country is, the better. The world’s strongest nations don’t rely on foreign suppliers for their security equipment.”
The Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria, established in 1964, was overhauled in 2023. The new Act empowers it to run subsidiaries, set up a Defence Technology, Research, and Development Institute, and attract private sector funding.
Since then, DICON has signed several memoranda of understanding with private firms, including X-Shield Solutions, Buckler Systems, and Epsilon Bronberg Innovations. In July 2025, it announced a $2bn partnership with SP Offshore Nigeria Limited, with the goal of achieving arms self-sufficiency by 2027.
DICON’s Director-General, Major General Babatunde Alaya, said the initiative was designed to “reduce foreign importation while achieving full defence self-sufficiency.”