The Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) are the military forces of Nigeria, established in 1960. The forces consist of three service branches: the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and Nigerian Air Force.
Flag of Nigeria
The President of Nigeria functions as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, exercising his constitutional authority through the Ministry of Defence, which is responsible for the management of the military and its personnel. The operational head of the AFN is the Chief of Defence Staff, who is subordinate to the Nigerian Defence Minister.
Historical Overview
The origin of the Nigerian Armed Forces lies in the elements of the Royal West African Frontier Force, that became Nigerian when independence was granted in 1960. The Nigerian Armed Forces were established in 1960 as the successor to the combat units of the Royal West African Frontier Force stationed in the country, which had previously served as the British Empire's multi-battalion field force, during Nigeria's protectorate period.
Shortly after its formation, the NAF was engaged in combat operations against the secessionist state of Biafra, during the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970. At this point, the Nigerian military ballooned in strength from 85,000 personnel in 1967 to more than 250,000 troops by the war's end.
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In the years following the civil war, the Nigerian Armed Forces were halved in size from its post-war height to approximately 125,000 men. 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.
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 Cease-fire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Roles and Responsibilities
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.
Challenges and Conflicts
Today, the NAF faces a number of domestic challenges which continue to undermine stability within Nigeria and the region as a whole. Some of these threats include the ongoing conflict against the jihadist rebel group, Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, which has been in effect since July 2009. Likewise, Nigeria has been engaged in a long-running anti-piracy campaign in the Niger Delta, which has threatened the vital petroleum industry in the country, which is the source of 90% of Nigeria's exports and 35% of the government's revenue.
Compounding this state of affairs is the role corruption plays in the ongoing attempts to strengthen the armed forces. In spite of these challenges to its operational readiness, the Nigerian Armed Forces have committed to a number of wide-ranging modernization programs to bolster the discipline and firepower of its troops. This includes the acquisition of new armored vehicles, combat aircraft and aerial reconnaissance drones, and the refurbishing of naval vessels, which had suffered from prolonged periods of poor or minimal maintenance.
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One of ISWAP’s most devastating attacks unfolded in January, when it attacked Nigeria’s 149 Battalion in Malam Fatori on the Niger border. Geography also complicates efforts to counter the group. Lake Chad’s islands, swamps and porous borders offer natural cover and operational flexibility, and the governments of Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria have ceded much of this territory.
In parts of northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, ISWAP claims it has established a so-called caliphate. Presenting itself as a credible alternative to the Nigerian government, ISWAP provides basic services in areas it controls and earns $191 million a year from taxes - 10 times more than the Borno State government.
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Structure and Organization
The National Defence Council has been in existence since 1979 and advises the President on matters relating to the armed forces.
Nigerian Army (NA)
The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces and the largest among the armed forces. The President of Nigeria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff, who is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Nigerian Army is operationally and geographically divided into ten divisions, the basic field formation.
Its major formations include the 1st Division, 2nd Division, 3rd Armoured Division, 81st Division, 82nd Division and the newly formed 8th, 7th and 6th Divisions.
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At the end of the Civil War, the three divisions of the Army were reorganised into four divisions, with each controlling territories running from North to South in order to deemphasise the former regional structure. Each division thus had access to the sea thereby making triservice cooperation and logistic support easier. This deployment formula was later abandoned in favour of the present assignment of sectors to the divisions.
Its formations include the 1 Division, headquartered in Kaduna in the north-west, and 2 Division (HQ Ibadan in the South-West, which includes 32 Artillery Brigade at Abeokuta). 2nd Division also possibly includes 4 Brigade at Benin City, with 19 Battalion at Okitipupa and 195 Battalion at Agenebode. 52 Signal Regiment may be the divisional signals unit. 3 Division's headquarters is at Rukuba Cantonment, Jos, in the North-East, and includes 21 Armoured Brigade Maiduguri, 23 Brigade Yola, and 33 Artillery Brigades. 81st Division (Amphibious) HQ in Lagos, which includes the 9 Brigade, based at Ikeja Cantonment in northern Lagos, 82nd Division (Airborne and Amphibious) HQ in Enugu in the South-East, which includes the 2 Brigade at Port Harcourt, 13 Brigade at Calabar and the 34th Artillery Brigade at Obinze/Owerri. Lagos and Abuja have garrison commands, with the Lagos garrison as large as a division.
The Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) located in Minna is responsible for doctrinal, training and combat development, and supervises training centers.
Nigerian Navy (NN)
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 as well as three other operational commands with headquarters in Lagos, Calabar and Bayelsa. The training command 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.
Nigerian Air Force
The Nigerian Air Force was formally established in January 1964, with technical assistance from West Germany. The Air Force started as a transport unit, with the aircrew being trained in Canada, Ethiopia and Pakistan. In 2007, the Air Force had a strength of 10,000. It flies transport, trainer, helicopter, and fighter aircraft. The Air Force sponsors the Air Force Military School, Jos, Nigeria and the Air Force Institute of Technology.
International Missions and Engagements
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.
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 the civil wars broke out in those countries.
In October 2004, the Nigerian troops were deployed to Darfur, Sudan, to spearhead an African Union force, to stop the genocide in Darfur. Nigeria has contributed more than 20,000 troops/police to various UN missions since 1960.
Map of Nigeria
Modernization Efforts
Nigeria also has pursued a policy of developing domestic training and military production capabilities. Nigeria has continued a strict policy of diversification in its military procurement from various countries.
Despite a disproportionate emphasis on the materiel and sophistication of the Nigerian Armed Forces, and despite possessing some formidable hardware, the Army has been hamstrung by technical deficiency and an exceptionally poor standard of maintenance. Its overabundance of foreign suppliers, including Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, the former Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom, has also complicated logistics.
The Nigerian Army achieved an historic milestone after it activated its Aviation Corps in 2024 when it took delivery of two Bell UH-1H, "Huey" helicopters. Negotiations to procure 4 HAL Prachand attack helicopters are at an advanced stage.
Nigerian Army Divisions
| Division | Headquarters | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Division | Kaduna | North-West |
| 2nd Division | Ibadan | South-West |
| 3rd Armoured Division | Rukuba Cantonment, Jos | North-East |
| 81st Division (Amphibious) | Lagos | Lagos |
| 82nd Division (Airborne and Amphibious) | Enugu | South-East |
| 7th Division | Maiduguri | North-East |
