Nigeria: New Nigerian Army Divisions, Bold Reforms and the Contiguity Question
[This Day] President Bola Tinubu's decision to expand the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions marks one of the boldest restructurings of the military in recent years, aimed at decentralising command, strengthening security and reducing response time to emerging threats. But as the new formations take shape, questions around manpower, resources, logistics and, particularly, the geographical…
President Bola Tinubu has announced plans to expand the Nigerian Army from eight to twelve divisions, aiming to decentralise command, strengthen security, and reduce response time to threats. This decision has sparked questions about the practicality of the new structure, particularly concerning manpower, resources, logistics, and the geographical contiguity of states under each command.
The new divisions will be based in Makurdi, Ilorin, Jalingo, and Benin City, replacing and supplementing existing commands in Kaduna, Ibadan, Jos, Port Harcourt, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Lagos, and Enugu. The president has also approved the recruitment of 28,000 additional personnel, with the first phase of implementation set to complete by September 2026 and the second phase by December 2026.
The restructuring is expected to enhance protection for critical national infrastructure and improve the military's response time to emerging threats. However, questions remain about the effectiveness of the new divisions, such as whether the assigned states are geographically closest to the division headquarters, as seen with Kogi State being under 5 Division in Makurdi despite Lokoja being closer to Ilorin.
Written by urgent.news from AllAfrica's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
