Not just another security strategy document

A newly appointed committee in Nigeria, approved by President Bola Tinubu on August 19, 2026, is set to create a unified National Threat Assessment and a rolling 5-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan. The committee's task is to eliminate fragmented security operations and link defense procurement directly to clear operational priorities.

Their terms of reference include reviewing security threats, assessing their urgency and strategic implications, defining operational priorities, identifying capabilities required in each theater, and establishing implementation steps for each priority. The committee, led by the President’s Homeland Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Adeyinka Famadewa, is expected to submit its findings within 90 days for presidential consideration.

However, Nigeria already has a number of security strategy documents and white papers, including the National Security Strategy (NSS) – 2019, the Nigerian National Defence Policy (NNDP/NDP) – 2017, and the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCPS) – 2021. The Daily Trust welcomes the new committee, urging it to provide a platform to address real weaknesses in Nigeria's security and defence planning.

They also advise the committee to strengthen coordination within Nigeria’s defence, intelligence, and security agencies, and to resolve ambiguities in the coordination of National Security Strategy matters. The committee's work should not merely replicate past national security strategic documents, but should provide a platform for Nigeria to have a proper realignment of its national security strategy structure.