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A former spokesman of the Nigerian Air Force, Group Captain Sadeeq Shehu (Rtd), has urged the Federal Government to address personnel and equipment shortages within the military before proceeding with plans to establish four additional divisions of the Nigerian Army.
President Bola Tinubu recently approved the creation of four new army divisions in Makurdi, Ilorin, Jalingo and Benin City, increasing the number of divisions from eight to 12. The move is expected to support the recruitment of 28,000 additional soldiers, strengthen military presence in vulnerable areas and improve operational coordination against security threats.
Speaking on ARISE NEWS on Monday, Shehu argued that expanding the army’s structure should only come after the existing formations have been adequately equipped and assessed.
“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,” he said.
While acknowledging Nigeria’s need for a larger military because of its size, population and security challenges, the retired officer maintained that the immediate concern should be the operational readiness of the current eight divisions.
“I think the question should be, if we have eight divisions, we need to know what is their current status before we should start thinking of adding new divisions,” he stated.
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Shehu noted that concerns over overstretched troops and inadequate equipment have been widely raised, stressing that many soldiers remain deployed in conflict zones for prolonged periods without replacement.
“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,” he said.
He explained that military formations can only function effectively when there is a proper balance between personnel strength and equipment.
“Military science has shown, unless you have this combination of organisation—that’s number of personnel—and also equipment that is balanced… your battalion or your brigade or your division is not going to function properly,” Shehu said.
The retired Air Force officer also cautioned against allowing political considerations to influence decisions on where military formations are established.
“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,” he added.
