The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has given reasons why terrorism has persisted in the country despite the huge budgetary allocation to the military.
The Chief of Defence Staff offered the explanation in an interview on Arise TV on Tuesday night.
Musa said the military did not have enough equipment to fight the terrorists because year after year not all the funds allocated to defence were released.
He said there was usually a difference between what was budgeted and what was released.
For the 2024 Appropriation Bill, he said N3.25 trillion was budgeted for defence, while in 2023, defence got N2.98 trillion, representing 13.4 percent of the N21.83 trillion budget.
He said: “In the past, you heard large sums of money approved for the military but the question is, how much do we get?
“That is very important.
“Also, we don’t manufacture any of the items we use.
“We buy them in dollars.
“If you look at the amount released and you convert it to dollars, how much is it?
“For instance, the $1 billion released in the past, the 12 Tucano (fighter) jets that were bought cost over $600 million.
“How much do you buy MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle), Armoured Personnel Carrier, tanks, ships, aircraft?
“So you find out that the money released, when you convert them to dollars, you are not even getting much.
“Every piece of ammunition we buy is in foreign currency and we buy them in billions because we use them quickly.
“Yes, we cannot get all we need.
“No country does.
“The President (Bola Tinubu) has signed the bill for DICON (Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria).
“We must produce what we need.
“Even with your money, you cannot buy most of the equipment you need off the shelf.
“You have to order for them and wait before you get them and that takes time.
“It is when the industrial complex comes on stream and we start producing what we need, it will be a lot better for us.
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“We will continue to move.
“And as much as we get equipment, we will continue pushing.”
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