ABUJA, Nigeria — In a decisive push to neutralize persistent domestic and regional threats, a comprehensive Nigeria army expansion has been formally approved by President Bola Tinubu. The strategic military buildup is designed to significantly enhance rapid response capabilities and increase personnel deployments across the nation’s most vulnerable sectors.
Retired Master Warrant Officer Emmanuel Longs, who served in the armed forces from 1985 until his retirement in 2020, views the expansion as a vital necessity. According to Longs, the country’s security challenges have become increasingly multifaceted. He noted that increasing army divisions and recruiting additional personnel are essential for ensuring quick responses to emergency calls and maintaining daily operational deployments. While acknowledging the positive step, Longs advised the administration to push beyond standard reinforcement targets, stating that an addition of 28,000 personnel alone “will not do” and urging the president to further increase the numbers.
The military buildup comes at a critical time for the nation, which has been grappling with a severe insurgency that began in 2009, alongside deadly clashes between farmers and herders, and persistent militancy in the oil-rich Delta region. The human toll has been devastating; the United Nations reports that over 35,000 lives have been lost and more than 2 million people displaced due to the violence.
Despite these internal struggles, the Global Firepower Index currently ranks the country third in overall military strength on the African continent, trailing only Egypt and Algeria, with an estimated total force of 280,000 personnel.
The instability is not confined within national borders. Neighboring West African countries, including Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso, are battling similar insurgencies, prompting Nigeria to actively support regional peacekeeping operations. Longs highlighted the pivotal role of the armed forces in this broader stabilization effort, noting that Nigerian soldiers are widely considered top-tier forces and are actively participating in operations in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF).
While the numerical increase in divisions is widely seen as a positive step, security experts caution that raw numbers are not a silver bullet. Inko Taria Ikpaliboi, CEO of Tarmac Security Ltd., warned that expanding the military without parallel investments in training and welfare could prove highly counterproductive.
“If you increase the number of soldiers without sufficient training and reasonable welfare package, it will be counterproductive,” Ikpaliboi stated. He stressed that modern adversaries are no longer fighting with rudimentary “Dane guns,” but are instead armed with sophisticated automated rifles. Consequently, he argued that the military must be vastly better equipped to effectively subdue and diminish these heavily armed threats.
In response to these concerns, government authorities have assured the public that troop welfare remains a top priority. Defense Minister Christopher Musa recently pledged that a pay rise for armed forces personnel will be implemented soon. Furthermore, President Tinubu has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to supporting the military by procuring modern equipment and fostering the local manufacturing of arms to ensure long-term operational self-sufficiency.
