Former Nigerian Air Force spokesman, Group Captain Sadeeq Shehu (Rtd), has advised the Federal Government to address existing gaps within the military before proceeding with plans to establish four additional divisions of the Nigerian Army.
President Bola Tinubu last week approved the establishment of four additional divisions of the Nigerian Army, expanding the force from 8 to 12 divisions. The new formations, to be located in Makurdi, Ilorin, Jalingo and Benin City, are expected to provide the command structure for the ongoing recruitment of 28,000 additional personnel, strengthen military presence in vulnerable areas and improve operational coordination against security threats.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Monday, Shehu said increasing the number of divisions should come only after the armed forces have assessed and resolved deficiencies in personnel and equipment across the existing formations.
He said, “We should be fixing the existing gaps which have been discussed in the Senate, in all the discussions, we should fix them first. Then we should know whether we need four divisions, whether we need six divisions, or even 20 divisions, but fix the existing gap.”
According to him, while Nigeria requires more military personnel because of its security challenges, territorial size, population and regional responsibilities, the priority should be determining the operational readiness of the current eight divisions.
He said, “I think the question should be, if we have 8 divisions, we need to know what is their current status before we should start thinking of adding new divisions.”
Shehu noted that concerns over overstretched troops and shortages of equipment have already been raised publicly, making it necessary to evaluate the condition of existing formations before creating new ones.
He added, “How well resourced are they? Again, it is open knowledge that the military and even the ordinary citizens would be saying that the military is overstretched. We have people staying in long tours of duty in conflict areas without replacement.”
The retired officer said every military formation should meet established standards for personnel and equipment to function effectively.
He said, “Military science has shown, unless you have this combination of organization, that’s number of personnel, and also equipment that is balanced, unless you have, you know, an appreciable number, your battalion or your brigade or your division is not going to function properly.”
Shehu also cautioned against allowing political considerations to influence decisions on the location or creation of military formations.
He said, “Let’s not make it as if it is a politically kind of decision, that every area needs to have its division. That will not help the military, that will not help the country.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
