Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Friday, said to effectively secure the country, more people should be recruited into the police and the military.
Osinbajo said this in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, during his engagement with delegates ahead of the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress.
Answering questions from the delegates and party leaders during the consultation, Osinbajo, who had earlier visited the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji, said apart from engaging more hands, the country must also expand its capacity to produce weapons locally.
He said, “The size of the Armed Forces is too low for the population of Nigeria. A local government in Niger State, Mashegu, has the land mass the size of South-East states and Lagos State with about a 100 policemen. That is very inadequate. So, to police the country properly, we need more hands in the police and the Armed Forces.
“We also need our own local ammunition manufacturing company. We have started that at DICON (Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria), but we need to expand its capacity to produce more ammunition. We also need weapon and defence system manufacturing outfits locally.
“Presently, we depend on the Western countries for weaponry and the system is very complex. For instance, we pay for Tucano fighter jets and it takes over four years to get the jets into the country.”
Asked if agreement could still be reached among many presidential aspirants in the South-West to have a consensus candidate, Osinbajo said, “I believe strongly in the wisdom of Yoruba elders and leaders and consultations are always ongoing. I am of the belief that very soon we will resolve whatever differences that exist and we will agree on the way forward.”
The Osun State Deputy Governor, Benedict Alabi, who received Osinbajo and his team, said the state had witnessed tremendous growth under the watch of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
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