Militaries world over are rated based on various factors such as military strength which is the number of active personnel, reserve personnel, and military equipment as well as types and quantities of weapons, artillery and ammunition.
Some other determinant factors include sophistication of military technology, aircraft, ships and surveillance systems.
They also include logistics capabilities; financial resources and quality of military training, combat experience, readiness and professionalism.
These factors are used to calculate a military’s overall power and ranking, such as the Global Firepower (GFP) ranking, which is widely used to compare the military strength of nations.
The Armed Forces of Nigeria comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force, have attained a considerable level of global recognition based on the aforementioned factors or requirements as the excel in various international and local engagements.
After one year in office, President Bola Tinubu administration has demonstrated commitment with respect to the above-mentioned enablers, including in procurement of military combat enablers within the last one year.
For the Nigerian Army, a number of platforms have been procured and delivered in the last one year to boost its operational efficiency in the war against insurgency, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, oil theft and other security threats.
Notably among these are the 12 MD 530F Cayuse Warrior Plus by MD Helicopters (MDH), a top aircraft manufacturing company, to enable army operationalise its Aviation Unit.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, had on Sept. 26, 2023 announced that Tinubu approved payment for the procurement of the 12 attack helicopters for the army to also contribute to the overall operational success of joint and coalition troops.
Lagbaja had said that the helicopters would operationalise the Nigerian army aviation unit, which was set up to improve ground troops’ agility, responsiveness, and efficacy during operations.
According to him, the experiences of nations like the US, Pakistan, Colombia, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda are instructive in this area.
He said that the army aviation arms of these countries had been effective in countering contemporary security threats and providing vital support to ground forces.
According to him, in view of the need to realise this, and in its bid to appropriately respond to contemporary and emerging security threats, the Nigerian Army resuscitated its aviation aspiration in 2014.
According to records obtained from the Ministry of Defence, 20 TARES Mines Protective Vehicles (MPV), a flagship armoured vehicle customised to provide substantial protection against IEDs and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), were procured.
Also, EPAIL Nigeria, a local defence production firm, recently delivered 20 cutting-edge Light Tactical Armoured Vehicles (LTAVs) to the Defence Headquarters, representing a pivotal moment in the nation’s fight against insecurity.
Similarly a procurement, refurbishment, and accessorising of Harris Rf-5/7800 Military Communications Equipment; purchase of 3,695 X Ak 47 rifles and other hi-tech equipment was carried out within the period under review.
The army also took delivery of several Gun trucks, Magnus Mf 212 Surveillance Attack Aircraft, Bell Helicopters and military Medium Girder and Bailey Bridges, among others.
To boost operational efficiency of its Amphibious Battalion, the Nigerian Army acquired and operationalised within the year, 20 gun boats for boat counter-terrorism operations in the Lake Chad region and Anti-Crude Oil Theft in the Niger Delta.
In the Nigerian Navy (NN), the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla, was quoted as saying that the Nigerian Navy under his watch would strive to improve personnel welfare and enhance operational efficiency through platform acquisitions and infrastructural development among others.
According to him, this is geared towards repositioning the Service to actualise her statutory roles.
Some of the recent acquisitions include a 76meter High Endurance (HE) Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) being built by DEARSAN Shipyard, Turkey which was launched in October 2023.
In April, the second 76meter High Endurance (HE) Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) being built by DEARSAN Shipyard, Turkey was unveiled by the First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu.
The two vessels are expected be sailed to Nigeria and be inaugurated into the Nigerian Navy fleet upon completion of the building in Turkey later this year.
Also in April, three 46meter Fast Patrol Boats (FPB) were also launched in China.
In the same vein, one 35meter Hydrographic Vessel built by OCEA Ship Builders in France, was delivered to Nigerian Navy in Apapa Lagos in April and would be commissioned during the Navy Week activities.
The Navy also acquired another two sets of 32meter Fast Patrol Boats also to be commissioned in Lagos during the Navy week activities as well as two AGUSTA 109 SP Helicopters.
According to Ogalla, these successes, acquisitions and infrastructure development are possible through the support of President Bola Tinubu.
“He is determined to reposition the Armed Forces of Nigeria in general and the Nigerian Navy in particular towards fulfilment of constitutional roles and national security imperatives’’, Ogalla said.
In the Air Force (NAF), since the inception of the Tinubu’s administration on May 29, 2023, the service has experienced significant enhancements in its operational capabilities, marking a notable period in its efforts to maintain national security and peace.
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) of Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar in one of his remarks, had said that since his appointment in June 2023, he had leveraged on his extensive experience and transformational leadership to maximise the effectiveness of new and existing resources.
“In the last one year, the administration has procured an additional five aircraft for the NAF, which include two Diamond 62 surveillance aircraft, two T-129 ATAK helicopters, and a King Air 360 ER, with plans to integrate 46 more by the end of 2024.
“These strategic acquisitions have bolstered the Air Force’s capacity to conduct precise and impactful operations against various security threats across the country,” he said.
It is instructive to note that these acquisitions of platforms have produced impressive operational successes in all fronts.
Beginning with the troubled North East, where the military had been instrumental in depleting terrorist ranks and disrupting their operations to Niger Delta where the activities of the crude oil thieves are being hindered.
More interesting is the fact that local technologies and initiatives are being developed to support the nation’s defence industry with locally produced platforms that can address the peculiarity of our environment in the fight against insurgency, banditry, kidnapping and other forms of insecurity.
However some of the procurements outlines were locally produced by an indigenous firm, Equipment and Protective Applications International Limited (EPAIL), which produced and supplied the 20 cutting-edge Light Tactical Armoured Vehicles (LTAVs) to the Nigerian military through the Ministry of Defence.
The Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Dr Kola Balogun, thanked President Tinubu for signing into law, the new Defence Industry Cooperation of Nigeria (DICON) Act, which he said had provided them the opportunity to utilise local capacity in defence production in Nigeria.
Balogun, who is also the Secretary General, Defence Industry Association of Nigeria (DIAN), lamented that DICON had since 1964, remained unproductive until the new law was signed.
According to him DICON would have been so mandated since 1964 to produce defence targets or capability for the country because the equivalent of such industry in Brazil has been producing aircraft and so many other things but ours still remain unproductive.
He added that the nation’s military had for so long, depended solely on foreign capability, which the present administration had decided to put a stop to.
“As such they needed to repeal the DICON Act which this present administration signed into law.
“So it was this development that led to all private sector to now beef up their capacity and capability to venture into investing into development of various defence equipment, capability, gadgets, weapons and so on and so forth.
“And EPAIL which is one of the members of DIAN, we have done so well to go and learn about capability and standard.
“We have put in so much energy, so much peculiarity to address some of the insurgency challenges.
“Since most of our wars are asymmetric, we design a vehicle that is capable of higher maneuverability risk for all our troops.
“So our troops in this vehicle will not necessarily come out before they can be able to disengage the enemy right inside the vehicle while they are safe,” he said.
The Minister of Defence, Muhammed Badaru, had during the recent ministerial briefing, disclosed that the new DICON Act had helped the nation to produce defence needs locally.
Badaru said that there had been discussions around the production of military wares with more than 50 private companies in Nigeria and abroad.
He said that 13 out of them had already started production or about to start production, adding that some had started the assembling and production of armoured carriers, safety equipment, radios.
According to him, they are also investing heavily in the production of drones.
While the military has shown tremendous improvement under Tinubu in the area of acquisition of arms and ammunition, observers say this should reflect in assault on kidnappers, bandits and insurgents.
They say the fight against these elements should be intensified as they still carry out sporadic attacks in different parts of the country.
