Nigeria's Army Chief Says Securing Over 200 Million Citizens With Just 2 Million Security Agents Is Unrealistic

Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, has lamented the extreme shortage of security personnel, inadequate funding and their effects on the security situation in the country.

The army chief said that it is unrealistic to secure over 200 million Nigerians with two million security agents, out of whom, a little over 100,000 are active soldiers of the Nigerian Army without any reserved forces.

Lagbaja said this while speaking at the 2024 Distinguished Personality Lecture titled "The Roles and Contributions of the Nigerian Army to National Development," jointly organised by the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, and the Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre, Jaji.

The event was organised on Monday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to mark the United Nations International Day of Peace.

The COAS who was represented by the Chief of Training (Army), Major General Sanni Gambo Mohammed, lamented that the manpower of security personnel in the country is largely inadequate to secure a country of Nigeria’s size, The Guardian reports.

Lagbaja stressed, “In a country with over 200 million people, it is unrealistic for security agencies totalling around two million, including an army of just over 100,000 active personnel without a reserve force, to secure the entire population.

"The significant gap in resources is being exploited by criminal elements. To address this issue, it is crucial to invest in expanding and strengthening security forces, ensuring they have adequate personnel and resources."

Also according to Lagbaja, inadequate funding affects the level of equipment held by the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), hence, having a direct impact on performance of the military.

Describing national development and national security as costly, the COAS said, "The entire AFN had a budget of about $2.8 billion in 2023, with an additional supplementary (budget) of about one billion dollars. “However, not all the budgetary provisions were eventually released.”

He said, “Although funding for the AFN as a whole has been improving yearly since 2017, unfortunately, the downturn in the economic performance of the country has eroded the value of what is actually released.

"The inadequacy in funding is affecting the level of equipment holding of the AFN, which has a direct impact on performance."

ObosiLandlord:

Nigeria needs to increase the size of the military and paramilitary forces

Christistruth02:

US does it everyday
Recruit more

helinues:
Resign and start selling puff puff.

Security experts are not your thing . Nigeria is vast, yes we understand but are those miscreants up to ordinary police force not to add other forces?

esrinri:
It's a lie, 40 million youths can do it. Recruit them

Morbeta11:


https://saharareporters.com/2024/09/24/nigerias-army-chief-says-securing-over-200-million-citizens-just-2-million-security

Morbeta11:
https://saharareporters.com/2024/09/24/nigerias-army-chief-says-securing-over-200-million-citizens-just-2-million-security

9japride:
If you like have one billion personnel or weapon of mass destruction, if you don't have the will power to do the right things nothing will change.

Emergingnation:
Flashback: How Bola Tinubu spoke highly of Buhari in 2015, named PDP ‘Poverty Development Party

National leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu had during the presidential campaign in 2015, referred to President Muhammadu Buhari as the only solution for the security and economic challenges facing Nigeria.

During a mega presidential rally, the former governor of Lagos State recalled how some powerful nations in the world returned to army generals when they were challenged, saying “Major General Buhari would revive Nigeria’s economy”.

He named the current opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP as the “Poverty Development Party saying they had nothing to offer.

His words at the time were; “Every nation has a period of their own challenges, when America was challenged, they turned to one great man, their ex-military general, General Eisenhower. When the French were challenged, they turned to their general, Charles de Gaulle.

“When Britain was challenged, they turned to their general. Today, Nigeria is economically and physically challenged so we turn to General Muhammadu Buhari. He is the right man for the job. If you talk about military experience, he has it abundantly, he has courage, simplicity, he has it abundantly.

“If you talk about great determination, a combination of vision and ability to perform, honesty and integrity, he has it abundantly.

“I laugh when the incapable government, ‘Poverty Development Party’ PDP were talking. They have nothing again to say, they now want to question the qualifications of General Buhari and look for his certificate”.

Following the manifestos in 2015 which projected the APC presidential candidate as a ‘saviour’, Buhari defeated the then incumbent president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan with Nigerians expecting a total change in security and economy.

https://dailypost.ng/2021/09/01/flashback-how-bola-tinubu-spoke-highly-of-buhari-in-2015-named-pdp-poverty-development-party/