From Abdullahi Alhassan, Kaduna
The Director General of Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), Maj-Gen. Aniedi Edet, on Thursday commended diligent staff who remain committed to their production to meet the industries statutory mandate.
The DG made these remarks while interacting with civilian staff at Factory E, during his routine visit to the DICON Ordnance Factory in Kakuri, Kaduna.
Edet also extolled President Bola Tinubu, for his continuous and sustained efforts towards reviving the corporation to deliver on its statutory mandate. “Notable among these is the assenting into law of the new DICON Act 2023, which aims at repositioning the Corporation for an optimum production in line with the best global practices.
He appreciated and commended staff who remained disciplined and committed on their production lines, despite recent distractions by some protesting staff.
The DG also condemned the unprofessional acts of some of the protesters, stating that such acts were against the extant provisions of DICON’s Staff Conditions of Service, as contained in Section 3 Subsection 11 of DICON Staff Conditions of Service (2011 Edition).
The DG highlighted some modest achievements made in DICON in the last few months, including reactivation of ammunition production lines, on-the-job training for the staff, establishment of DICON Training Institute, timely payment of salaries, peculiar allowances and improved general staff welfare packages.
Others are several infrastructural projects completed and ongoing to improve the Corporation’s productivity and the well-being of the staff.
The DG strongly affirmed his commitment to pursing the Corporation’s mandate which was ” to meet the materiel requirement of the Nigerian Armed Forces and other security agencies as well as foreign policy needs through improved production, collaboration and commitment to international best practices.
Reacting to the DG’s visit, comments were made by some of the elated DICON General Managers and Staff. Mr Lawal Musa who said, “My team and I are convinced; the reason why I didn’t join them is because I said I have to investigate. We don’t do something just because we heard that somebody said we should do, now we have seen the truth and we will remain at work”.
Similarly, Engineer Hafiz Abdulwahab, another staff of Factory E, appreciated the DG for presenting them with documents containing facts and evidence, he prayed for other protesting colleagues to resume work immediately as he missed their presence.
Abdulwahab used the opportunity to appeal to the DG, on behalf of some contract staff, who have continued to work diligently to be absolved as regular staff when the need arises.
The DG, was accompanied by the General Managers and Staff walked over to have lunch together at the newly renovated Canteen, to climax his routine visit. In his closing remarks to both Senior and Junior staff at the Canteen, Gen. Edet implored the staff to be patriotic.
He also advised them to be diligent in their work and ensure that the normal channels of communication were always followed to address their grievances. “As many of the allowances they were clamouring were being processed for payment by the Ministry of Finance, “he said.
