Prof. Muhammad Yakubu, Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST), has urged the Federal Government to allow the Institute to combat boots for Nigeria’s military and other security agencies.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday (Saturday, November 9) in Abuja, Yakubu assured that NILEST can produce combat boots that will be embedded with certain inbuilt security features that will enable the tracking of security personnel and safeguard their lives during operations.
Yakubu explained that the institute would collaborate with the Nigerian Space Centre to design the special trackable combat boots.
“Very close to the institute, we have a footwear production line project in Basawa, Zaria; we have just completed the building and very soon we are going to procure equipment for the facility,” the NILEST enthused.
“The facility is such that we can produce 1,000 pairs of military boots everyday; We, therefore, want the Federal Government to give us the go ahead, and direct that we should be responsible for that.
“We have the capability to produce the boots and inject some security features so that nobody could get it and use it anywhere. This will make it easy to trace where it was produced and which of the barracks was given the boots.”
Explaining that “the shoes will be designed with inbuilt security features, such that wherever you are on this earth you can be traced,” Prof. Yakubu declared”
“We have gone very far, the aim is for the Nigerian military. If we perfect it, the market will not only be for Nigeria alone but also other countries in sub-saharan Africa.
“We can even make it for civilians. We can produce school shoes, for instance, so that parents will know where their children are in real time.”
Yakubu disclosed that NILEST has also concluded preparations for the opening of 29 highly integrated centres to advance research, skills training and production of its leather and other products.
“Presently, we only have nine centres to cater for the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria but now we are going to have about 29 more centres; we are going to have a centre in each state of the federation.
“It’s not just about having new centres but introducing an entirely new game-changer.
”Hitherto what we only had were offices, laboratories and workshops for skills acquisition and partly commercialising our activities, ” Yakubu further said.
He, however, noted that due to Nigeria’s prevailing economic reality, the institute has decided to make each centre self-sufficient and highly integrated.
“We are going to start with leather production by mopping available hides and skin in each locality, not to sell them as it is, but take them to our workshops and turn them into leather goods and products.
“We are going to make a lot of our youths gainfully employed,” he said.
The D-G further explained that the institute would not only train the youth but also get the best out of them in terms of leather production, including footwear and upholstery.
The NILEST boss added that the institute also aims to produce upholstery for automobiles, trains and aeroplanes in the near future.
Prof. Muhammad Yakubu, Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology (NILEST)
