MATAWALLE’S UNCHARTED TERRITORY

The Defence Minister has added an entrepreneurship dimension to the Presidential campaign, doling out POS devices to 3,700 beneficiaries nationwide, and more, writes JACK OKUDE

The President Bola Tinubu re-election campaign trail has revved to life across the nation. Among the many pulleys keeping the machine running is the Tinubu Again Movement (TAM), a grassroots and support structure founded by Minister of Defence (State), Dr. Bello Matawalle. Needless restating that Matawalle is among the most fervid supporters of Tinubu. Every moment with him, he speaks of Tinubu as Nigeria’s most courageous leader since the 4th Republic. He makes you see Tinubu in an entirely different perspective as a modern era visionary leader.

Now, this same Matawalle is backing his word with actions. Politics is not in sloganeering, it is in action. Winning election is not achieved by social media presence and trends. It’s by actual engagements with the people, the electorate. Everywhere in the world, no politician has ever won an election via the optics of social media or virtual world acceptance. It is your connection with the populace through direct engagements that helps you win the people’s votes. Matawalle understands this. To give his Tinubu Again engine the gas to power through the wards and homes across the nation just to sell Tinubu’s achievements and explain to Nigerians why the president deserves re-election, he has taken practical steps to reach the people and sustain the connection.

Recently, Matawalle rolled out over 1,000 campaign vehicles all immersed in All Progressives Congress (APC) colours, bearing President Tinubu’s image with the message, TINUBU AGAIN 2027. The vehicles are meant for movement and to boost logistics among the campaigners and volunteers. Tinubu Again Movement (TAM) is not an elite club, but a grassroots mobilisation machine that moves on the path never before charted even by the opposition. Matawalle, a veteran in politics and the art of politicking, knows where the votes are. He knows the real voters. They are persons in the lower rung of the ladder of life; not persons who sit at home and sip coffee and wine on every election day; not persons who buzz on social media all day, every day, but do not have their permanent voter’s card. And not also those who, though, have acquired their voter’ card but are far removed from their voting centres. Such make the most noise on social media like clanging cymbal beating out of tune in an orchestra.

Matawalle understands that beyond rallies and the razzmatazz of media blitz, campaign trails and slogans, the real campaign is in direct engagement with the real voters. To achieve this, campaigners and volunteers will need mobility to reach the people and take the message to them – ward to ward, door to door. He did not stop at mobility of the campaigners, Matawalle has added an entrepreneurship dimension to the basket; handing out 3,700 POS devices to 3,700 beneficiaries nationwide with each state and the FCT getting 100 devices each. The enterprise boost also comes with N200,000 grant (not loan) to each POS operator. A kind of starter pack. This is not a promissory note. It’s empowerment; and a reliable stream of income for the beneficiaries.

Matawalle’s Tinubu Again message is simple: Tell Nigerians what Tinubu has been doing to keep Nigerians safe; the exploits of Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and how Tinubu has given the corporation the enablement to produce arms, ammunition and other military equipment locally. Simply put: sell Tinubu’s defence record to the people.

The story is worth re-telling here. On Wednesday, July 29, 2026, Matawalle, was in Kaduna to inaugurate the DICON Institute of Technology. The trip was without fanfare but it was loud on implications for President Tinubu’s iron-cast resolve to fight and overawe insecurity in the country. The institute was established as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to achieve self-reliance in defence production through the building and sustenance of a viable military industrial complex within the country. The institute will not only provide the requisite technical expertise for the design, development and sustenance of platforms and systems critical for the security of the nation, it will significantly reduce Nigeria’s reliance on foreign sources for critical defence capabilities including technical capacities and relevant 21st century skill sets for the nation’s security personnel.

For decades, Nigeria has relied on foreign technical and technological assistance to defend its territorial integrity and ensure internal security for the citizenry. This has obvious implications on the sovereignty of the nation. It has also over the years put enormous pressure on the naira as all the imported arms and ammunition including high-end military hardware and training of security personnel overseas are procured with forex.

Before the inauguration of the institute, DICON itself has been involved in the production of small arms from pistols to rifles. Other DICON products include a range of ammunition, Amoured Personnel Carriers (APC), built-for-purpose tactical military vehicles, ballistic vests and sundry protective garments. It is a growing list and a clear attestation to the engineering proficiency of the nation’s military personnel.

With support from President Tinubu through Matawalle’s office, DICON has in recent time unveiled the following military hardware: the DG-103 Assault Rifle which has been mass-assembled for Nigerian troops on the frontline; Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (BR6) specially designed to enhance military efficiency; the Rhino Guard GXR, a specialised tactical/armored platform built with integrated anti-drone and RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) protection capabilities. The others are the MRAP Series (Buffalo U10, M12, and F4) which are assembled at the Kaduna factory with production lines said to be scaling up mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles; Medical Evacuation and Support Cabins, a set of specialised MedEvac, ambulance cabins, 120mm manual mortar launcher cabins, and infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) variants like the BNP2. Add to that list the Anti-Drone Systems and Drones which are locally built early-warning anti-drone platforms and interceptor drones specially developed to counter complex security. These are the defence records that Matawalle is taking to Nigerians to reassure them that the Tinubu government is not sleeping but quietly reforming the defence sector to effectively overawe the insecurity challenge facing the nation.

Credit to President Tinubu for signing the DICON Act 2023 which marked a remarkable shift in the corporation’s profile and has continued to attract investments through partnerships from the private sector. The Act was the end-product of a bill sponsored by Babajimi Benson, representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

Ever since, DICON has assumed a more respectable status. It has partnerships with several private security equities for the mass production of some high-end defence infrastructure in readiness for Nigeria’ final decisive onslaught against insecurity.

These are the messages Matawalle is taking to Nigerians. Messages that bear testimony to the defence achievements of the Tinubu government; messages that lend credence to successful macro-economic reforms now cascading down to micro-economic benefits for the ordinary Nigerians, the kind of benefits that the POS schemes and N200,000 grants exemplify.

Okude, communication strategist, writes from Abuja