Nigerian Armed Forces

The Nigerian Armed Forces are the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Its origins lie in the elements of the Royal West African Frontier Force that became Nigerian when independence was granted in 1960. In 1956 the Nigeria Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) was renamed the Nigerian Military Forces, RWAFF, and in April 1958 the colonial government of Nigeria took over from the British War Office control of the Nigerian Military Forces.[4]

Nigerian Armed Forces
Flag of the Nigerian military
Current form1960
Service branches Nigerian Army
 Nigerian Navy
 Nigerian Air Force
HeadquartersAbuja
Leadership
Commander-in-ChiefPresident Muhammadu Buhari
Defence MinisterBashir Salihi Magashi
Chief of Defence StaffGeneral Abayomi Olonisakin
Manpower
Active personnel215,000[1]
Reserve personnel52,000[2]
Expenditures
Budget$2.152 billion (₦429 billion)[3]
Percent of GDP0.4% (2016)[3]
Industry
Foreign suppliers Australia
 Brazil
 Belgium
 China
 Canada
 France
 Germany
 Pakistan
 Poland
 South Korea
 Russia
 South Africa
 United States
 United Kingdom
Related articles
HistoryMilitary history of Nigeria
Congo Crisis
Nigerian Civil War
Nigeria-Cameroon border conflict
First Liberian Civil War
Second Liberian Civil War
Sierra Leone Civil War
Conflict in the Niger Delta
Northern Mali conflict
Boko Haram insurgency
RanksMilitary ranks of Nigeria

Since its creation the Nigerian military has fought in a civil war – the conflict with Biafra in 1967–70 – and sent peacekeeping forces abroad both with the United Nations and as the backbone of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Cease-fire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) in Liberia and Sierra Leone. It has also seized power twice at home (1966 & 1983).

In the aftermath of the civil war, the much expanded size of the military, around 250,000 in 1977, consumed a large part of Nigeria’s resources under military rule for little productive return. The great expansion of the military during the civil war further entrenched the existing military hold on Nigerian society carried over from the first military regime. In doing so, it played an appreciable part in reinforcing the military’s nearly first-among-equals status within Nigerian society, and the linked decline in military effectiveness. Olusegun Obasanjo, who by 1999 had become President, bemoaned the fact in his inaugural address that year: ‘... Professionalism has been lost... my heart bleeds to see the degradation in the proficiency of the military.’[5]

Training establishments in Nigeria include the prestigious officer entry Nigerian Defence Academy at Kaduna, the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, and the National War College at Abuja.[6] The U.S. commercial military contractor Military Professional Resources Inc. has been involved from around 1999–2000 in advising on civil-military relations for the armed forces.[7]

The roles of a country’s armed forces are entrenched in her Constitution. The defence of the territorial integrity and other core interests of the nation form the major substance of such roles. Section 217-220 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria addresses the Nigerian Armed Forces:

  • (1) There shall be an armed forces for the Federation which shall consist of an army, a navy, an air force, and such other branches of the armed forces of the Federation as may be established by an Act of the National Assembly.
  • (2) The Federation shall, subject to an Act of the National Assembly made in that behalf, equip and maintain the armed forces as may be considered adequate and effective for the purpose of –
  • (a) defending Nigeria from external aggression;
  • (b) maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land, sea, or air;
  • (c) Suppress insurrection and act in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President but subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.
  • (d) Perform such other functions as may be prescribed by an act of the National Assembly.
  • (3) The composition of the officer corps and other ranks of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria.

Army
Main article: Nigerian Army

The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces and the largest among the armed forces. Major formations include the 1st Division, the 2nd Division, the 3rd Armoured Division, 81st Division, 82nd Division, and newly formed 8th, 7th and 6th, Divisions.

Main article: Nigerian Navy

The Nigerian Navy (NN) is the sea branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The Nigerian Navy command structure today consists of the Naval Headquarters in Abuja, three operational commands with headquarters in Lagos, Calabar, and Bayelsa. Training command's headquarters are located in Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, but with training facilities spread all over Nigeria. There are five operational bases, five forward operational bases (with two more soon to come on stream), two dockyards located in Lagos and Port Harcourt and two fleets based in Lagos and Calabar.

Air Force
Main article: Nigerian Air Force
Roundel of the Nigerian Air Force

The Nigerian Air Force was formally established in January 1964 with technical assistance from West Germany. The air force started life as a transport unit with aircrew being trained in Canada, Ethiopia and Pakistan. The air force did not get a combat capability until a number of MiG-17 aircraft were presented by the Soviet Union in 1966.

In 2007 the Air Force had a strength of 10,000.[8] It flies transport, trainer, helicopter, and fighter aircraft. By 2019, the number of the Air Force personnel has increased to 15,000.

The Air Force sponsors the Air Force Military School, Jos, Nigeria and the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Nigeria also has pursued a policy of developing domestic training and military production capabilities. Nigeria has continued a strict policy of diversification in her military procurement from various countries.

Other components

There is a Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta region designated "Restore Hope." This is an inter service Operational Team comprising members of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force to combat terrorism in the Niger Delta.[9] JTF HQ is located at Yenagoa.

Nigerian military forces abroad

In December 1983, the new Major General Muhammadu Buhari regime announced that Nigeria could no longer afford an activist anti-colonial role in Africa. Anglophone ECOWAS members established ECOMOG, dominated by the Nigerian Army, in 1990 to intervene in the civil war in Liberia. The Army has demonstrated its capability to mobilize, deploy, and sustain brigade-sized forces in support of peacekeeping operations in Liberia. Smaller army forces have been previously sent on UN and ECOWAS deployments in the former Yugoslavia, Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone.[10][11][12] This doctrine of African military intervention by Nigeria is sometimes called Pax Nigeriana.[13]

That policy statement did not deter Nigeria under Generals Ibrahim Babangida in 1990 and Sani Abacha in 1997 from sending ECOMOG peacekeeping forces under the auspices of ECOWAS into Liberia and later Sierra Leone when civil wars broke out in those countries. President Olusegun Obasanjo in August 2003 committed Nigerian troops once again into Liberia, at the urging of the United States, to provide an interim presence until the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) arrived.[14] Charles Taylor was subsequently eased out of power and exiled to Nigeria.

In October 2004, Nigerian troops again deployed into Darfur, Sudan to spearhead an African Union force to stop the genocide in Darfur.[15] Nigeria has contributed more than 20,000 troops/police to various UN missions since 1960. The Nigeria Police Force and troops have participated in:

Nigerian officers have served as Chiefs of Defence in other countries, with Brigadier General Maxwell Khobe serving as Sierra Leone Chief of Staff in 1998–1999,[21] and Nigerian officers acting as Command Officer-in-Charge of the Armed Forces of Liberia from at least 2007.

References
  1. "Armed forces personnel, total - Data". Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  2. "Nigeria Military Strength". Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  3. McKaughan, Jeff (28 January 2016). "Nigerian Defence Budget – A Critical Review - African Defense". Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  4. "Library of Congress Country Studies, Nigeria". loc.gov. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  5. Obasanjo, quoted in Herbert M. Howe, Ambiguous Order: Military Forces in African States, Lynne Rienner, Boulder/London, 2001, p.54. Obasanjo has also been accused of misuse of his personal position for profit.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2009-10-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com/archive/2003/dec/11/0097.html, accessed October 2009 and Peter Singer, 'Corporate Warriors,' Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 2003, p.131-2. ISBN 0-8014-4114-5
  8. IISS Military Balance 2007
  9. "Page not found". Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  10. "Former Yugoslavia: UNPROFOR". Department of Public Information, United Nations. 31 August 1996.
  11. "United Nations Official Document". www.un.org. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  12. "The 5 previous West African military interventions". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  13. Adebajo, Adekeye. (2007). Liberia's Civil War : Nigeria, ECOMOG, and Regional Security in West Africa. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 978-1-62637-112-5. OCLC 1027486570.
  14. "Military". UNMIL. 2015-09-02. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  15. Ebegbulem, Joseph C (2011-07-01). "Nigeria and conflict resolution in Africa: The Darfur experience". Civilizar. 11 (21): 69. doi:10.22518/16578953.34. ISSN 1657-8953.
  16. "UNITED NATIONS INDIA-PAKISTAN OBSERVATION MISSION (UNIPOM) - Facts and Figures". peacekeeping.un.org. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  17. "UNIFIL Troop-Contributing Countries". UNIFIL. 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  18. "UNITED NATIONS IRAN-IRAQ MILITARY OBSERVER GROUP (UNIIMOG) - Background (Full text)". peacekeeping.un.org. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  19. "UNMISET: United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor - Facts and Figures". peacekeeping.un.org. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  20. "MONUC Facts and Figures - United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo". peacekeeping.un.org. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  21. "BARRACKS". Retrieved 24 January 2017.

Further reading
  • Idang, Gordon J. "The Politics of Nigerian Foreign Policy: The Ratification and Renunciation of the Anglo-Nigerian Defence Agreement." African Studies Review 13, no. 2 (1970): 227-251.
  • Robin Luckham, The Nigerian military; a sociological analysis of authority & revolt 1960–67, Cambridge [Eng.] University Press, 1971.
  • N.J. Miners, ‘The Nigerian Army 1956–66,’ Methuen and Co. Ltd, London, 1971
  • Jimi Peters, 'The Nigerian Military and the State,' 1997, ISBN 1-85043-874-9
  • Nigerian Army Education Corps and School, History of the Nigerian Army 1863–1992, Abuja, 1992

Nigerian Defence Staff

Nigerian Army

Nigerian Navy

Nigerian Air Force

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