The Director-General, Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), Maj.-Gen. Aniedi Edet, said as no fewer than 50 firms have indicated interest of partnership in defence production.Edet made the announcement during an engagement with the staffers of the firm on Thursday in Kaduna.
He said that staff engagement was key to the management of DICON, while reminding them of the five management pillars that were key to the corporation.
Edet listed the pillars to include; business orientation, where the corporation would be run as an enterprise.
They also include professionalism, which according to him, had manifested in many ways to include going back to production, which they were able to achieve.
He further mentioned the others to include communication, in which he lamented that upon his assumption as the director-general, there was a breach, which he had striven to close the gap.
He said, “We have been communicating to staff and this engagement has been held in series and stood as routine in the corporation that we have been holding.”
Edet explained that they have a system in DICON where his position as the director-general holds such event at least once in two months.
He added that each department, unit, their Directors and heads, was expected to hold meetings.
According to him, those measures were ways of bridging the gap of communication.
Edet also said that he often visits the factory where staff meet and engage him..
“This is not the first time, and this is not going to be the last. We will continue to engage our staff,”he said.
Speaking further, Edet said they have brought out an innovation to take their communication further.
He disclosed that they would start publishing the DICON Information bulletin, saying that it would henceforth be done quarterly.
Edet said, “I want to launch the first one as early as the first week of June.
”The information bulletin will be collating relevant information from all the departments and put it together to make piece of information that every staff will have it handy.”
Speaking on staff welfare and building partnership, he said it was the whole essence of the engagement, while partnership was key to upholding the extant DICON;s Act.
He recalled, ”President Bola Tinubu had signed the Act into law in November 2023, where by its virtue, the corporation has been repositioned and mandated to perform much more through partnership in defence production.
“We have come back with production and so many activities which have attracted so many partners back to us.
“So many of them are bringing in investments, expertise and other directions in the sphere of defence productions.
”We believe this is what will turn the fate of our military industrial complex around.”
He assured that DICON would abide by the civil service rules, adding,”where any staff who steps out of the line will face a committee while those doing very well will be commended.”
BRANDPOWER reports that awards were presented to staff who distinguished themselves during the engagement.
