The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), has said that maintaining diverse defence partnerships gives Nigeria strategic leverage, citing Egypt as an example of a country that benefits from cooperation with multiple global powers.
Musa said this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics , saying “You can see in Egypt that they have support from several countries. It is important to keep that leverage so you can continue to move forward”.
While responding to concerns that Nigeria’s defence agreements with Türkiye could strain ties with Washington, especially amid ongoing US military support to Nigeria, Musa said Nigeria’s growing security partnership with Türkiye will not undermine its relationship with the United States, insisting that the country remains committed to its non-aligned posture.
He stated that Nigeria’s approach allows it to work with multiple international partners in its national interest, adding “Nigeria is now a non-aligned nation, which means we can partner with everybody. Once you are a friendly nation to us, we are friends, and we can relate directly. That is why we can deal with China, Türkiye, and the United States. The idea of isolating yourself with just one group is not the best for anybody”.
The minister also confirmed that military equipment and technology from Türkiye would begin arriving in Nigeria soon, following the signing of defence agreements between both countries.
“Very soon. Some of them are already ready. We are working on the paperwork now. The signing has been done, and we will proceed with discussions, training, and capacity building. Some of these are quick interventions that will come in, and we are going to deploy them as fast as possible,” he said.
The former Chief of Defence Staff said the agreements go beyond procurement, focusing heavily on military education, joint training, and defence industry cooperation, adding “What we signed is essentially putting pen to paper on our friendship and military cooperation. It involves military education, exchange of officers, and training of troops. They will send their personnel here, and we will send ours there”.
The minister noted that Nigeria is particularly interested in replicating Türkiye’s defence production model, adding that the partnership would allow technology transfer and local manufacturing.
“On defence industry cooperation, we have not done much in production before, and we want to replicate what they have achieved. They can come here, produce the same standard equipment they have in Türkiye, transfer the technology, and make it Nigerian-owned,” he said.
