The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has disclosed that Nigeria will start local production of military and paramilitary uniforms with effect from January 2023. The uniforms are expected to be produced from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between Sur Corporate Wear Nigeria Limited and the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON). This was made known on Monday in a statement issued by the Commission’s acting head of media and publicity, Manji Yarling.
According to the statement, “The DICON-Sur collaboration which will span a concession period of 20 years will be responsible for producing uniforms for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, Civil Defence, and other military and paramilitary organizations”.
Speaking at a meeting, the Acting Director-General of ICRC, Michael Ohiani urged all relevant stakeholders of the project to resolve any issue delaying the completion of the uniform-production factory.
The Managing Director of Sur Corporate Wear Nigeria Limited, Burhan Karabulut said the project has reached 68 percent completion, adding that the company is unable to source raw materials for production because the designs for the uniforms are yet to be approved.
The project is expected to create at least 920 jobs and save the country’s foreign exchange currently spent on the importation of uniforms.
