DICON-D7G plans 7,000 defence jobs and Lagos exhibition centre

A defence firm linked to Nigeria's state-owned Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) has announced plans to create 7,000 jobs and build a large exhibition centre in Lagos, as the country pushes to make more of its own military equipment.

DICON-D7G, a major sponsor of the ongoing Africa International Defence Exhibition (AFRIDEX) in Lagos, said the 7,000 jobs would be split between 2,000 retired military personnel and 5,000 civilians. Its chief executive, Osman Chennar, announced the plans in a statement to journalists on Monday.

The retired personnel would work in training, engineering, logistics, administration and project management, according to the statement. The civilian roles would cover manufacturing, engineering, information technology, research and development, and skilled trades.

Chennar said the goal is to move Nigeria away from buying finished weapons abroad and towards designing, making and maintaining its own equipment, and eventually exporting it.

"Our ambition is to move Nigeria from dependence on imported military equipment to a country that can increasingly manufacture, maintain and sustain its own defence requirements," he said.

Why it matters for ordinary Nigerians

Nigeria has for decades bought most of its military hardware, ammunition and spare parts from foreign suppliers. That spending uses up scarce foreign exchange, and it leaves the armed forces exposed when supply chains are disrupted.

If local production grows, the thinking goes, some of that money stays at home, Nigerian factories and workshops get work, and jobs open up for young people and retired soldiers.

DICON-D7G said it wants to go beyond arms and ammunition to make tanks, armoured personnel carriers, mine-resistant vehicles, boats and drones. It recently attended an exhibition in Qatar to look for foreign partners, investors and technology companies willing to share know-how.

The firm is also seeking about 40,000 square metres of land in Lagos for an international exhibition centre. It said the centre would host defence fairs, trade shows and investment forums, and would earn revenue of its own.

The push comes 61 years after DICON was set up in 1964, and follows President Bola Tinubu signing the DICON Amendment Act into law in November 2023, which widened the legal room for local defence manufacturing.

What happens next

The plans are still at the announcement stage. Turning them into real factories and jobs will depend on sustained investment, research, technology transfer, quality checks and cooperation between government and private manufacturers, as the company itself acknowledged.

Nigerians will be watching for details on where the land will come from, who is funding the projects, and when the first jobs will actually open.