Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has dismissed the idea of engaging foreign mercenaries to tackle security challenges.
Tuggar spoke in a press conference on Thursday at the State House, Abuja, in the company of his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
Tuggar’s remarks came amid a raging debate about foreign powers meddling in Nigeria’s affairs, following new partnerships with China and France.
The minister said involving foreign fighters in local security challenges is not the solution.
“Private military companies, as far as we are concerned, it does not matter whether they are from the north, south, east, west. We don’t think it is going to provide the panacea.
“Nigeria has consistently proved effective in leading other countries in our region, and I would even say, on the continent at large, in addressing challenges to peace and security, and we do this whenever we partner other countries and have their support, including major powers that are outside our region, outside Africa and we appreciate that sort of approach.
“It is not just a one-off thing. It is not a fluke. It is because of Nigeria’s place and position on the continent and in our region, and that is why we took a firm stand and say, ‘let us work together towards solving our problems by ourselves’.
“Let us shun this idea of allowing others to come in to solve our problems for us,” he said.
The minister said Nigeria is rather interested in working with China to domesticate the production of military equipment.
“This is what we are looking for, so that we don’t have to go out looking to procure, because of the delay and so many rules and regulations. We need to be able to produce locally,” he added.
Tuggar said Nigeria will continue to work with countries like China on a bilateral basis.
