Sola Ojo, Kaduna
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday ordered the police, military, paramilitary and other agencies to patronise a fashion company known as DICON-SURCORPORATE Wear for all their uniforms when it becomes operational in the year 2021.
President Buhari, who stated this in Kaduna where he performed the ground- breaking ceremony of the public private partnership (PPP) garment and clothing company said, this is important as part of the legacy his administration would leave behind.
Mr President, who was represented by Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, noted that the idea of partnering the Turkish company was to further cement the existing relationship between the two countries as well as guiding against the nefarious activities of criminal elements who sow fake security uniforms.
The company is expected to employ between 1,000 and 1,500 persons in its first year of operation and later 5,000 direct jobs.
“There is, therefore, the need to establish modern garment factory to produce befitting uniforms for our armed forces and other security agencies.
“I am equally delighted that part of the value chain of this industry is the creation of additional 1,000 workforce when the factory is fully operational from 2021.
“Since the basic raw material for the factory is cotton, so, Kaduna, Bauchi, Gombe and Katsina states are expected to create additional opportunities through this value chain.
“Let me at this juncture reaffirm the commitment and desire of this government to welcoming all genuine investors who want to invest in socio economy and industrial opportunities which abound in Nigeria.
“I wish to seize this opportunity to assure Nigeria’s prospective partners and investors that, the Federal Government of Nigeria has policies on ease of doing business, local content development and other micro and macro policies that aim at encouraging foreign indirect investment in Nigerian economy.
“Accordingly, all relevant MDAs are hereby directed to support the Dicon-Sur Corporate Wear Nigeria Limited to become one of the success stories of this administration in garment and textile sub-sector.
“Defense headquarters, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Police Affairs, Ministry of Interior should ensure that this directive is strictly complied with. In this light, I hereby direct that, Nigerian Armed Forces, Nigeria Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps and other paramilitary and uniform agencies to procure their uniforms and relevant accessories from this factory when it becomes operational,” he directed.
Earlier in his remark, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin observed that DICON which was established in 1964 with the mandate of producing the military and para-military defence equipment needs of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other security agencies had not met the desired expectations of the nation.
He identified factors such as lack of proper maintenance of its machinery, inadequate funding leading to dwindling production capacity, poor research and development, low patronage by end users and depletion in key personnel amongst others as responsible for its woes.
“SUR Cooperate Wear is a Turkish company specialised in the production of garments for the military and para-military as well as civilians and one of the companies approved and listed for collaboration with DICON during the 4th Nigeria-Turkey Defence Industries Cooperation meeting held in Ankara, Turkey on 7th November, 2018.”
In their respective speeches, the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Magashi, Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan represented by the Senate Committee Chairman on Defence, Senator Aliyu Wammako, and Kaduna State acting Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarebe all commended the gesture and expressed optimism that the establishment would not only create employment but would also help address the problem of insecurity in the country.
On his part, the President SUR Cooperate Wear Turkey, Mr Oktay Ercan, described the occasion as a dream come true, adding that the clothing and other accessories company targets 1,000 employees and the number is expected to grow to 5,000 in the near future.