President Bola Tinubu has approved the expansion of the Nigerian Army from eight to twelve divisions, alongside the recruitment of 28,000 additional personnel. The decision, announced on Friday, is aimed at strengthening national security and equipping the armed forces to respond more effectively to the range of threats facing the country.
According to the presidency, the approval underscores Tinubu's commitment to equipping the armed forces to address Nigeria's evolving security challenges and to strengthen national defence capabilities. The creation of four additional divisions is intended to widen the army's operational footprint and improve its ability to cover the country's vast and varied theatres of operation.
Under the new structure, the Nigerian Army will operate twelve divisions, up from the eight that have until now been positioned strategically across the country. The existing divisions are headquartered in different geopolitical zones, with command centres that include Kaduna in the north west, Ibadan in the south west and Jos in the north central region.
Other existing divisional headquarters referenced include Makurdi, covering Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi states, and Port Harcourt in the south south, responsible for Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River. Further formations are based in Maiduguri, covering Borno and Yobe in the north east, and in Jalingo, covering Taraba and Adamawa states.
The Maiduguri based division has for years been regarded as the army's front line or action division, given the sustained insurgency in the north east and the activities of Boko Haram and armed bandit groups. The addition of new divisions and tens of thousands of troops is expected to help the army distribute its forces more evenly as it confronts insurgency, banditry and other security pressures across several regions.
Some security analysts welcomed the restructuring as a boost to Nigeria's overall security architecture and a signal of intent to reinforce the military. Others urged that the expansion be driven strictly by the country's security needs and the improvement of its defence architecture, rather than by political considerations, expressing hope that the timing is not tied to positioning ahead of the 2027 general elections.