The destruction of the noble institution of the Nigerian Army was its involvement in politics. Given the considerable investment in resources and manpower, and its combat experience outside the shores of the country, the Nigerian military should have been by far the best and most envied in Africa had the Army never ventured into politics in recent decades.
Many Nigerians are not aware that the Nigerian military was the engine room of the British Army outside the European theatres of war, and even before most African countries could dream of building an army, the Nigerian Army had meritorious service through out the world. In Burma, North Africa, in fact it was the Nigerian military that protected the territorial integrity of Kenya when it was invaded by the Italians. It was the Nigerian military that restored Emperor Haille Selaise back in power when it was partly invaded by, again the Italians. If Nigeria as at then was an independent country, Nigeria had the wherewithal to become a colonial power via military subjugation.

But the puzzling aspect of this was that from 1863 to 1945, no single Nigerian was good enough to be considered an officer in an army where %99 of the fighting men were Nigerians. At the time of Independence, the officers corp that was to shoulder the responsibility of commanding the Nigerian Army was deliberately deprived of tutelage under the British Army offices corp. When the Nigerian eventually took over control of the military on the 22nd of February 1965, but eleven months after the whole army collapsed.

Attempts were made to patch it up after the civil war ended in 1970, various reforms were instituted to this effect, but the unfortunate overthrow of Gowon killed the prospect of reformation and brought another dimension to the military : the era of unforceful retirement for services no longer required. The psychological effect of this on those officers remaining in service was devastating.

Officers started having second thought on allegiance to the military, Nepotism and corruption gradually took root. But despite all this the Nigerian Army as at then was by all account among the most formidable in Africa.

Corruption and nepotism in the Nigerian military reached its apoge during the regime’s of General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha. General Babangida virtually destroyed the Nigerian Air Force. This is hardly surprising since the majority of coup plotters have been Air Force officers. General Sani Abacha, to his credit halted the downward spiral of the Army and initiated major reforms to ‘re arm the military.

The decimation of the Nigerian armed forces reached critical mass with the return of democracy in 1999. Despite being in a near state of war with Cameroon and the ensuing Niger Delta crises, Nigeria’s civilian leadership deemed it rational to virtually destroy the fighting capability of the Nigerian military. The current security challenges facing Nigeria today can be linked to the decision taken by Nigeria’s leadership to destroy the fighting capability of the Nigerian military, especially the Army and Air Force, because they were convinced the only way to starve off future military coups was to destroy the capabilities of the Nigerian Army and Air Force.

To say this is borderline insane will be understating the obvious. Since the return of Democracy to Nigeria in 1999, no infantry officer has been the chief of defence staff of the Nigerian Army. Hard to believe right? We talking about eighteen straight years.The chiefs of staffs have either come from combat support services like the Intelligence Corp etc. You don’t make a Signals Officer the GOC of an Army. The job of the signals officer is to keep the communication line open, not command. Infantry officers should lead The fight, its what they are trained to do.

The result of these ill thought out policies driven by greed is evident today. Never in the history of this great country has it experienced nearly 17 years of non stop security challenges that threatens to destroy the very fabric of the Nigerian Federation. Proponents of this madness argue the Nigerian Army today eschews the virtue of professionalism…give me a BREAK !!

Yes many of the military elite have PHD’s and Masters Degree……we are just kicking the goal post. That is not the military. They are not in the trenches with the real core of any military, it’s fighting men and women. Two things underpins the capability of any successful army ; the training of the fighting men and the weapons available to them to carry out what they’ve been trained to do. Having an all PHD or Degree Service Chiefs does not compensate for this core factors.

It might be a hard pill to swallow but its time we Nigerians ask ourselves, is the Nigerian Army training to meet the challenges of the future? While our brave soldiers are fighting Boko Haram in the North East, only a fraction o of the Nigerian Army is involved in that operation, what is the vast majority of the Army personnel in Lagos and all over the country doing? Are they even training? Are they conducting regular exercises? Will any officer even take the risk of gathering thousands of soldiers for training exercises without been accused of trying to plot a coup to overthrow the government?

The Nigerian Army stopped regular training and live fire exercises in 2000 because we have as leaders politicians who are clueless to the workings of combat readiness. The moment the Army lost training it lost everything. We Nigerians saw symptoms of this in the early stages of the Niger Delta insurgency, but we just did not think it possible for an army to lose its combat effectiveness in so short a time frame. Inexperienced, poorly trained and ineptly led soldiers have manifested their lack of professionalism in the early stages of the Boko Haram conflict.

There used to be a time in the Nigerian Army when to become a lieutenant one would have to go through a myriad of infantry courses at several Nigerian military training colleges.Soldiers spent as much as a week in open ranges come rain or shine doing firing classifications. Soldiers from the North came to several ranges in Ikorodu and Ekpe in Lagos. Not long ago Nigerian artillery men were regarded as amongst the world’s best. When American soldiers were trapped and pinned down in a fire fight in Somalia, they radiod a continent of Nigerian army personnel deployed three miles away.THREE MILES. Nigerian troops on foot got there in less than an hour and created an escape route for the Americans pinned down by creating a buffer zone with a sustained hail of hot lead over an area, pinning the Somalian attackers to the ground and allowing the American troops to escape.

Not long ago the Nigerian Army was so fearsome that having a DefenceTreaty with Nigeria gave you ironclad security guarantee. The Chadians, who with a fleet of Toyota pickup trucks brought the Libyan army to its knees, got a first hand experience of what it picking up a fight with the Nigerian Army entails. Today Nigerian troops are being tagged as cowards by Chadian troops, after 400 Nigerian soldiers dropped their weapons and fled !! The concept of Nigerian troops fleeing defies the laws of physics.

The Commander of the Boko Haram expeditionary force that captured Bama and captured tons of Nigerian weapons, was a former Corporal in the Nigerian Army. A COMMON CORPORAL.

The Nigerian Army must rebuild the Infantry Corp to the level it was in the nineties. The various combat battalions should be conducting non stop training exercises, not sitting in the barracks.Training instills discipline and weed out the weak.

Yes the Nigerian Army will for all intent and purposes defeat Boko Haram, It should not rest there. The Nigeria army should emulate the Nigerian Air Force in taking lessons learnt from the insurgency and incorporating it into creativity and tactics.

It is no coincidence that the Air Force priotised ISR capable platforms and unmanned aerial systems on the short term. The NAF realised Boko Haram cannot be defeated conventionally. The key to defeating Boko Haram was Intelligence, and lots of it. Against this backdrop the NAF became obsessed with Information and Intelligence gatherings warfare and in the course of Boko Haram Insurgency built up an unmatched ISR and ELINT capability, incorporating attack drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, AWACS capable surveillance aircrafts and reconaisance planes fitted with sensors, FLIR pods and remote sensing camera’s. The result is evident.

The Nigerian Army should also swallow its pride and reach for broader military relations with Britain, akin to the relationship Cameroon and Chad has with France.The British can help us in this regard. It was the British that established the Armed Forces and Staff Colleges in Nigeria. They established the National War College in Nigeria.It was the British proxy that established the Nigerian Defence Academy.It used to be the Royal Nigerian Military Training College. The Nigerian Army School of Infantry Company Commander were run and trained by the British.

Us Nigerians either do not realise or choose to ignore the fact that Nigerians are totally British. We are British in orientation, we are British in our thinking, our military doctrine is British, our Army uniforms are British, our educational structure is British, our legal system is British.

There is a lot Nigeria can benefit from having closer military ties with Britannia. The foundation of the Anglo America empire is based on its Special Relationship with the British. If we had a security treaty or pact with Britain our security needs will in no way be jeopardized like it happened under the terrorist apologist Obama. During the civil war Britain supported Nigeria while France supported the secessionist Biafria.

Nigeria is under the Western sphere of influence yet we have nothing to show for it. Our reliance in the United States for military support and not Britain is the dumbest policy in Nigeria’s history. Britain desires a foothold in West Africa like France, for Britain, strong relations with Africa’s richest and most populous country will at a stroke lift Britain ahead of France when it comes to influence and Nigeria will benefit immensely.

Source: https://defensenigeria.blog/2017/08/16/the-truth-about-what-happened-to-the-nigerian-army/

Every man to his tent
Army that is 80.%northerner how do you call that Nigeria army .

why should anybody belive in Nigeria when pastor osibanjo refused to prosecute the chief grasscutter of our time.

so if buhari does not resume now, we will be left with someone like him?


evrybody pls say Godforbid

Pleeeeaaaaze no political derailment ,.plzzzzz

SSBN:
Pleeeeaaaaze no political derailment ,.plzzzzz

HAUSA FULANI ARMY... YOLOBA IS GREATEST COWARDS AND BUHATI IS OBASANJO DA CAUSE IT. NOW EVERY AREWA IS BEATING CHEST. IPOB MU GIVE BIAFRA SO DAT NIGERIA ARMY IS WESK. DEFEAT THEM AND BANISH THEM .I HAVE SEEN BURATAI IS A MURDEREE OS SHIITES AND IRAN WILL STRIKE NUCLEAR BOMB. SOONER EVEN NOWBTOO

OP you make sense die

Good post

Quick corrections after my skimming through the post

The last tri-service exercise was Ologun meta 2009

The Present COAS is an infantryman

No matter who is the COAS there is a Directorate for Training and Operations.This is the main man in the daily running of the Army

No Sub Saharan Country can pull off Brigade Size exercise talkless of division size exercise so what are we saying here?
Did you know circa June the Armored Corps had a training exercise at Bauchi? When these exercise (small ones) are ongoing our media rarely gives it the necessary publicity as they are busy on the other side of the field

Till today Infantry 2nd Lt must complete the Young officers course and some few courses before going to the next rank so what are we saying

The recapture of Bama was done by a full brigade with air component it was in the series of battles that Late Lt Col Abu Ali wrote his name in the roll of warriors so tell me something where do a corporal come in? Fiction?

In all I am not saying the NA is back at its old glory but when we want to point out areas of weakness we must come with Facts and not hearsay

I rest my case

Odunayaw:
Quick corrections after my skimming through the post

The last tri-service exercise was Ologun meta 2009

The Present COAS is an infantryman

No matter who is the COAS there is a Directorate for Training and Operations.This is the main man in the daily running of the Army

No Sub Saharan Country can pull off Brigade Size exercise talkless of division size exercise so what are we saying here?
Did you know circa June the Armored Corps had a training exercise at Bauchi? When these exercise (small ones) are ongoing our media rarely gives it the necessary publicity as they are busy on the other side of the field

Till today Infantry 2nd Lt must complete the Young officers course and some few courses before going to the next rank so what are we saying

The recapture of Bama was done by a full brigade with air component it was in the series of battles that Late Lt Col Abu Ali wrote his name in the roll of warriors so tell me something where do a corporal come in? Fiction?

In all I am not saying the NA is back at its old glory but when we want to point out areas of weakness we must come with Facts and not hearsay

I rest my case

The BOKO HARAM TERRORIST who led the raid that captured BAMA was a former Coporal in the Nigerian Army.

SSBN:


The BOKO HARAM TERRORIST who led the raid that captured BAMA was a former Coporal in the Nigerian Army.

Interesting

How did you get this info please?

Attempts were made to patch it up after the civil war ended in 1970, various reforms were instituted to this effect, but the unfortunate overthrow of Gowon killed the prospect of reformation and brought another dimension to the military : the era of unforceful retirement for services no longer required. The psychological effect of this on those officers remaining in service was devastating.

You don't know what you are talking about.

Gowon was advised by his colleagues to demobilize the Military force which had grown from 10,000 in 1966 to a whooping 250,000 during the war years up till his overthrow.

The huge army had become a strain on the economy as it now accounted for 40% of the budget as against just 5% a decade earlier.

Gowon's refusal to reduce the now redundant war-size military was borne out of the fear of the core northerners staging a coup as majority of the non-commissioned officers were from the Christian middle-belt.

Murtala still went on to overthrow Gowon and began the demobilization process and this was what led Dimka and other Christian officers from the Middle Belt to stage a bloody counter coup a few months later in 1976 where he (Dimka) called for Gowon to come back and resume command.

After Danjuma quelled the Coup, the process of discharging Biafran war veterans was consolidated as everyone agreed at that time that the Nigerian army had become too big and discipline and professionalism was seriously being eroded.

Over the years, the Hausa/Fulani have restocked the army with their kinfolks in order to consolidate their grip on the army and it is from there the mediocrity and sectarianism became a hallmark of the Military.

The Nigerian Army stopped regular training and live fire exercises in 2000 because we have as leaders politicians who are clueless to the workings of combat readiness. The moment the Army lost training it lost everything

My jaw dropped hearing this.

Nigeria is under the Western sphere of influence yet we have nothing to show for it. Our reliance in the United States for military support and not Britain is the dumbest policy in Nigeria’s history. Britain desires a foothold in West Africa like France, for Britain, strong relations with Africa’s richest and most populous country will at a stroke lift Britain ahead of France when it comes to influence and Nigeria will benefit immensely.

Sounds like a plan. Would the be more willing to assist in weapons development.

G4JEEZUS:
HAUSA FULANI ARMY... YOLOBA IS GREATEST COWARDS AND BUHATI IS OBASANJO DA CAUSE IT. NOW EVERY AREWA IS BEATING CHEST. IPOB MU GIVE BIAFRA SO DAT NIGERIA ARMY IS WESK. DEFEAT THEM AND BANISH THEM .I HAVE SEEN BURATAI IS A MURDEREE OS SHIITES AND IRAN WILL STRIKE NUCLEAR BOMB. SOONER EVEN NOWBTOO

Pls stop wailing n crying, channel ur problems to ur leaders, they are the one that caged U and eating ur portion

Odunayaw:
Interesting

How did you get this info please?

It beats me too, I thought he was initially talking about Oga Lamidi Adeosun. But it was d oda way round.
He has the freedom to ferret for informations he so wishes. we need not b inquisitive about his mode of information gathering.
If a child confides in u without asking to know how this.................that. He will be eager to do more.

M not supposed to spit dis out though.

Here's the thing. I do not right fiction. It took me a week and half if painstaking research and fact checking to write this article. It's left to you to dismiss or research on the history of the Nigerian armed forces dating ad far bavk as the 1940's.

The truth of what happened to the Nigerian Army is that it was and will forever be an extension of the British Company of the Nigga Area, there to protect the loot for the benefit of her majesty

Nigeria's Army failing? Thats good news to a Biafran supporter like me.

May Chukwu Okike be praised!

SSBN:
The destruction of the noble institution of the Nigerian Army was its involvement in politics. Given the considerable investment in resources and manpower, and its combat experience outside the shores of the country, the Nigerian military should have been by far the best and most envied in Africa had the Army never ventured into politics in recent decades.
Many Nigerians are not aware that the Nigerian military was the engine room of the British Army outside the European theatres of war, and even before most African countries could dream of building an army, the Nigerian Army had meritorious service through out the world. In Burma, North Africa, in fact it was the Nigerian military that protected the territorial integrity of Kenya when it was invaded by the Italians. It was the Nigerian military that restored Emperor Haille Selaise back in power when it was partly invaded by, again the Italians. If Nigeria as at then was an independent country, Nigeria had the wherewithal to become a colonial power via military subjugation.

But the puzzling aspect of this was that from 1863 to 1945, no single Nigerian was good enough to be considered an officer in an army where %99 of the fighting men were Nigerians. At the time of Independence, the officers corp that was to shoulder the responsibility of commanding the Nigerian Army was deliberately deprived of tutelage under the British Army offices corp. When the Nigerian eventually took over control of the military on the 22nd of February 1965, but eleven months after the whole army collapsed.

Attempts were made to patch it up after the civil war ended in 1970, various reforms were instituted to this effect, but the unfortunate overthrow of Gowon killed the prospect of reformation and brought another dimension to the military : the era of unforceful retirement for services no longer required. The psychological effect of this on those officers remaining in service was devastating.

Officers started having second thought on allegiance to the military, Nepotism and corruption gradually took root. But despite all this the Nigerian Army as at then was by all account among the most formidable in Africa.

Corruption and nepotism in the Nigerian military reached its apoge during the regime’s of General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha. General Babangida virtually destroyed the Nigerian Air Force. This is hardly surprising since the majority of coup plotters have been Air Force officers. General Sani Abacha, to his credit halted the downward spiral of the Army and initiated major reforms to ‘re arm the military.

The decimation of the Nigerian armed forces reached critical mass with the return of democracy in 1999. Despite being in a near state of war with Cameroon and the ensuing Niger Delta crises, Nigeria’s civilian leadership deemed it rational to virtually destroy the fighting capability of the Nigerian military. The current security challenges facing Nigeria today can be linked to the decision taken by Nigeria’s leadership to destroy the fighting capability of the Nigerian military, especially the Army and Air Force, because they were convinced the only way to starve off future military coups was to destroy the capabilities of the Nigerian Army and Air Force.

To say this is borderline insane will be understating the obvious. Since the return of Democracy to Nigeria in 1999, no infantry officer has been the chief of defence staff of the Nigerian Army. Hard to believe right? We talking about eighteen straight years.The chiefs of staffs have either come from combat support services like the Intelligence Corp etc. You don’t make a Signals Officer the GOC of an Army. The job of the signals officer is to keep the communication line open, not command. Infantry officers should lead The fight, its what they are trained to do.

The result of these ill thought out policies driven by greed is evident today. Never in the history of this great country has it experienced nearly 17 years of non stop security challenges that threatens to destroy the very fabric of the Nigerian Federation. Proponents of this madness argue the Nigerian Army today eschews the virtue of professionalism…give me a BREAK !!

Yes many of the military elite have PHD’s and Masters Degree……we are just kicking the goal post. That is not the military. They are not in the trenches with the real core of any military, it’s fighting men and women. Two things underpins the capability of any successful army ; the training of the fighting men and the weapons available to them to carry out what they’ve been trained to do. Having an all PHD or Degree Service Chiefs does not compensate for this core factors.

It might be a hard pill to swallow but its time we Nigerians ask ourselves, is the Nigerian Army training to meet the challenges of the future? While our brave soldiers are fighting Boko Haram in the North East, only a fraction o of the Nigerian Army is involved in that operation, what is the vast majority of the Army personnel in Lagos and all over the country doing? Are they even training? Are they conducting regular exercises? Will any officer even take the risk of gathering thousands of soldiers for training exercises without been accused of trying to plot a coup to overthrow the government?

The Nigerian Army stopped regular training and live fire exercises in 2000 because we have as leaders politicians who are clueless to the workings of combat readiness. The moment the Army lost training it lost everything. We Nigerians saw symptoms of this in the early stages of the Niger Delta insurgency, but we just did not think it possible for an army to lose its combat effectiveness in so short a time frame. Inexperienced, poorly trained and ineptly led soldiers have manifested their lack of professionalism in the early stages of the Boko Haram conflict.

There used to be a time in the Nigerian Army when to become a lieutenant one would have to go through a myriad of infantry courses at several Nigerian military training colleges.Soldiers spent as much as a week in open ranges come rain or shine doing firing classifications. Soldiers from the North came to several ranges in Ikorodu and Ekpe in Lagos. Not long ago Nigerian artillery men were regarded as amongst the world’s best. When American soldiers were trapped and pinned down in a fire fight in Somalia, they radiod a continent of Nigerian army personnel deployed three miles away.THREE MILES. Nigerian troops on foot got there in less than an hour and created an escape route for the Americans pinned down by creating a buffer zone with a sustained hail of hot lead over an area, pinning the Somalian attackers to the ground and allowing the American troops to escape.

Not long ago the Nigerian Army was so fearsome that having a DefenceTreaty with Nigeria gave you ironclad security guarantee. The Chadians, who with a fleet of Toyota pickup trucks brought the Libyan army to its knees, got a first hand experience of what it picking up a fight with the Nigerian Army entails. Today Nigerian troops are being tagged as cowards by Chadian troops, after 400 Nigerian soldiers dropped their weapons and fled !! The concept of Nigerian troops fleeing defies the laws of physics.

The Commander of the Boko Haram expeditionary force that captured Bama and captured tons of Nigerian weapons, was a former Corporal in the Nigerian Army. A COMMON CORPORAL.

The Nigerian Army must rebuild the Infantry Corp to the level it was in the nineties. The various combat battalions should be conducting non stop training exercises, not sitting in the barracks.Training instills discipline and weed out the weak.

Yes the Nigerian Army will for all intent and purposes defeat Boko Haram, It should not rest there. The Nigeria army should emulate the Nigerian Air Force in taking lessons learnt from the insurgency and incorporating it into creativity and tactics.

It is no coincidence that the Air Force priotised ISR capable platforms and unmanned aerial systems on the short term. The NAF realised Boko Haram cannot be defeated conventionally. The key to defeating Boko Haram was Intelligence, and lots of it. Against this backdrop the NAF became obsessed with Information and Intelligence gatherings warfare and in the course of Boko Haram Insurgency built up an unmatched ISR and ELINT capability, incorporating attack drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, AWACS capable surveillance aircrafts and reconaisance planes fitted with sensors, FLIR pods and remote sensing camera’s. The result is evident.

The Nigerian Army should also swallow its pride and reach for broader military relations with Britain, akin to the relationship Cameroon and Chad has with France.The British can help us in this regard. It was the British that established the Armed Forces and Staff Colleges in Nigeria. They established the National War College in Nigeria.It was the British proxy that established the Nigerian Defence Academy.It used to be the Royal Nigerian Military Training College. The Nigerian Army School of Infantry Company Commander were run and trained by the British.

Us Nigerians either do not realise or choose to ignore the fact that Nigerians are totally British. We are British in orientation, we are British in our thinking, our military doctrine is British, our Army uniforms are British, our educational structure is British, our legal system is British.

There is a lot Nigeria can benefit from having closer military ties with Britannia. The foundation of the Anglo America empire is based on its Special Relationship with the British. If we had a security treaty or pact with Britain our security needs will in no way be jeopardized like it happened under the terrorist apologist Obama. During the civil war Britain supported Nigeria while France supported the secessionist Biafria.

Nigeria is under the Western sphere of influence yet we have nothing to show for it. Our reliance in the United States for military support and not Britain is the dumbest policy in Nigeria’s history. Britain desires a foothold in West Africa like France, for Britain, strong relations with Africa’s richest and most populous country will at a stroke lift Britain ahead of France when it comes to influence and Nigeria will benefit immensely.

Source: https://defensenigeria.blog/2017/08/16/the-truth-about-what-happened-to-the-nigerian-army/

The Army of Today is largely a Nigerian Ceremonial Army.


You see them every where doing Police Work, performing escort duties and the new corps of officers are nothing to write Shekau about. They are just #100 collectors and officer runs men.

SSBN:


The BOKO HARAM TERRORIST who led the raid that captured BAMA was a former Coporal in the Nigerian Army.

Several dismissed soldiers of Northern extraction served with the Bike Haram. At a point, an Instructor from the Counter Terrorism training centre led an attack against the Army which ultimately led to his death.


My uncle came back from a United Nations Missions, today after 8 tortuous months he is yet to receive his allowances.

DonBobes:



It beats me too, I thought he was initially talking about Oga Lamidi Adeosun. But it was d oda way round.
He has the freedom to ferret for informations he so wishes. we need not b inquisitive about his mode of information gathering.
If a child confides in u without asking to know how this.................that. He will be eager to do more.

M not supposed to spit dis out though.

I tell you these are the kind of bunkum that shapes the mind of the gullible

We end up damaging ourselves while trying to rebuild and that must stop. This is what keeps me moving on this forum

Blue3k:


My jaw dropped hearing this.



Sounds like a plan. Would the be more willing to assist in weapons development.

pick up your jaw for it fell for nothing
That was sensationalism..the last tri-service exercise was 2009

SSBN:
Here's the thing. I do not right fiction. It took me a week and half of painstaking research and fact checking to write this article. It's left to you to dismiss or research on the history of the Nigerian armed forces dating ad far back as the 1940's.

no one is here to castigate your work

My problem is with sensationalism, it KILLS the beauty of the research

Sensationalism? On the contrary this is watered down. You really believe Nigeria's military capability erosion was a natural progression or just lack of funding. People mistake regular basic military fitness exercises and shooting competition as training, When was the last time Nigeria conducted a war game exercises involving combined services of the military. They Egyptian Army conducts regular war games at least once a year. They look at the possible threat scenario they have and conducts war games in scenarios mimicking those threats. Just last year the South African military (SANDF) conducted an amphibious landing and air exercise. The South African Navy conducts regular exercise with NATO. Wargames was once the forte of the Nigerian Army in the eighties. When Equitorial Guinea began aggressive posturing in the early ninetie, the Babangida administration conducted live fire Naval exercises at the BOB (bight of benin). War game exercises serve two purposes, a diplomatic statement and the modification of military doctrine based on the accessmenf of war exercises carried out.

Different countries modify their doctrines based on their capabilities. The Nigerian Army Doctrine in the eighties and nineties placed emphasis on artillery firepower and troop mobility. The Nigerian Army could deploy combat ready troops in any capital in West Africa in less than 24 hours. Our combat readiness was that acute. Nigerian troops trained under conditions far worse that that conditions on real battlefieds. The Nigerian troops smashed any opposition, location was not a factor. Be it Chad, Cameroon,Liberia, S-Leone.We conducted regular exercises based on our strengths. That level of training is GONE. DEAD. Soldiers are not trained to wait for war. In peace time continuous war exercises ensures tactical discipline is maintained. No soldiers goes through a hell of an ordeal, in life threatening conditions to make it to the army only to sit in the barracks for years on end. Military parade and shooting competition does not cut it. I have gone through several journals and pictures of the Nigerian Army operation in th last two decades. NOT ONCE did I see Nigerian troops with shovels digging trenches. It's doctrine of firepower and mobility forbade that. The Nigerian Army was trained to advance lest they become siting ducks.

Today, look at images from Nigerian troops in the North East. Most of what you see a trenches. ACTION REACTION. They act we react. We expend an extraordinary amount of firepower to inflict serious casualties on the enemy, then rather than consolidate on that by going after the enemy they dig 5 foot trenches and wait for the enemy to lick its wounds and reinforce...the circle goes on over and over and over again. A never ending circle of death and destruction. We stack munitions out in the open and dig trenches.

Maginot warfare is an expensive way to fight a war.

SSBN:
Sensationalism? On the contrary this is watered down. You really believe Nigeria's military capability erosion was a natural progression or just lack of funding. People mistake regular basic military fitness exercises and shooting competition as training, When was the last time Nigeria conducted a war game exercises involving combined services of the military. They Egyptian Army conducts regular war games at least once a year. They look at the possible threat scenario they have and conducts war games in scenarios mimicking those threats. Just last year the South African military (SANDF) conducted an amphibious landing and air exercise. The South African Navy conducts regular exercise with NATO. Wargames was once the forte of the Nigerian Army in the eighties. When Equitorial Guinea began aggressive posturing in the early ninetie, the Babangida administration conducted live fire Naval exercises at the BOB (bight of benin). War game exercises serve two purposes, a diplomatic statement and the modification of military doctrine based on the accessmenf of war exercises carried out.

Different countries modify their doctrines based on their capabilities. The Nigerian Army Doctrine in the eighties and nineties placed emphasis on artillery firepower and troop mobility. We conducted regular exercises based on our strengths. That level of training is GONE. DEAD. Soldiers are not trained to wait for war. In peace time continuous war exercises ensures tactical discipline is maintained. No soldiers goes through a hell of an ordeal, in life threatening conditions to make it to the army only to sit in the barracks for years on end. Military parade and shooting competition does not cut it. I have gone through several journals and pictures of the Nigerian Army operation in th last two decades. NOT ONCE did I see Nigerian troops with shovels digging trenches. It's doctrine of firepower and mobility forbade that. The Nigerian Army was trained to advance lest they become siting ducks.

Today, look at images from Nigerian troops in the North East. Most of what you see a trenches. ACTION REACTION. They act we react. We expend an extraordinary amount of firepower to inflict serious casualties on the enemy, then rather than consolidate on that by going after the enemy they dig 5 foot trenches and wait for the enemy to lick its wounds and reinforce...the circle goes on over and over and over again. A never ending circle of death and destruction. We stack munitions out in the open and dig trenches.

The Nigerian politicians cum retired military generals shifted the Army's posturing from the British Doctrine to the American doctrine today.

The result can be seen in the poor execution of the war against Terror.

NCP:



The Nigerian politicians cum retired military generals shifted the Army's posturing from the British Doctrine to the American doctrine today.

The result can be seen in the poor execution of the war against Terror.

Hmmm, you may be correct. But whatever it is the demerits of changing our traditional military doctrine to that of the U.S outweighs the benefit. It's ridiculous when I hear things like the United States training a contingent of 600 Nigerian soldiers. Training them on what?

SSBN:
Here's the thing. I do not right fiction. It took me a week and half if painstaking research and fact checking to write this article. It's left to you to dismiss or research on the history of the Nigerian armed forces dating ad far bavk as the 1940's.

What did you uncover in your research that led you to the conclusion that most coup plotters have been Airforce officers?

SSBN:
Here's the thing. I do not right fiction. It took me a week and half if painstaking research and fact checking to write this article. It's left to you to dismiss or research on the history of the Nigerian armed forces dating ad far bavk as the 1940's.

I am impressed with ur write up.��

SSBN:
Sensationalism? On the contrary this is watered down. You really believe Nigeria's military capability erosion was a natural progression or just lack of funding. People mistake regular basic military fitness exercises and shooting competition as training, When was the last time Nigeria conducted a war game exercises involving combined services of the military. They Egyptian Army conducts regular war games at least once a year. They look at the possible threat scenario they have and conducts war games in scenarios mimicking those threats. Just last year the South African military (SANDF) conducted an amphibious landing and air exercise. The South African Navy conducts regular exercise with NATO. Wargames was once the forte of the Nigerian Army in the eighties. When Equitorial Guinea began aggressive posturing in the early ninetie, the Babangida administration conducted live fire Naval exercises at the BOB (bight of benin). War game exercises serve two purposes, a diplomatic statement and the modification of military doctrine based on the accessmenf of war exercises carried out.

Different countries modify their doctrines based on their capabilities. The Nigerian Army Doctrine in the eighties and nineties placed emphasis on artillery firepower and troop mobility. The Nigerian Army could deploy combat ready troops in any capital in West Africa in less than 24 hours. Our combat readiness was that acute. Nigerian troops trained under conditions far worse that that conditions on real battlefieds. The Nigerian troops smashed any opposition, location was not a factor. Be it Chad, Cameroon,Liberia, S-Leone.We conducted regular exercises based on our strengths. That level of training is GONE. DEAD. Soldiers are not trained to wait for war. In peace time continuous war exercises ensures tactical discipline is maintained. No soldiers goes through a hell of an ordeal, in life threatening conditions to make it to the army only to sit in the barracks for years on end. Military parade and shooting competition does not cut it. I have gone through several journals and pictures of the Nigerian Army operation in th last two decades. NOT ONCE did I see Nigerian troops with shovels digging trenches. It's doctrine of firepower and mobility forbade that. The Nigerian Army was trained to advance lest they become siting ducks.

Today, look at images from Nigerian troops in the North East. Most of what you see a trenches. ACTION REACTION. They act we react. We expend an extraordinary amount of firepower to inflict serious casualties on the enemy, then rather than consolidate on that by going after the enemy they dig 5 foot trenches and wait for the enemy to lick its wounds and reinforce...the circle goes on over and over and over again. A never ending circle of death and destruction. We stack munitions out in the open and dig trenches.

1st paragraph is due to coupe scare. And der as bn triservice exercise b4 which was named ogunmete .
2nd para we pray dat is rekindled in d nig military because training gives you confidence blive me, apart from having equipment. I remembered wen my coursemate went to Sandhurst academy to finish bn dat he was d best in our course, during 1 of der long walks der cadets (British nationals) were complaining of injuries on der feet n all while my guy still hungered for more.
3rd para.
Bliv me ders no army dat would not like to finish wat it started . But in our case it's different due to wat BH normally use to delay our advance which is IEDs or VBIEDs etc. terrorism is one of d wars USA still avoids till date. Even oda developed con3s. Do u want us to walk into a trap we know of. I totally disagree with u on this. I just came from der after injury so u know NOTHING about dat.