Nigerian Army

The Nigerian Army traces its history to Lieutenant John Hawley Glover's Constabulary Force, which was largely composed of freed Hausa slaves in 1863.[5] The Constabulary Force was established with the primary goal of protecting the Royal Niger Company and its assets from constant military incursions by the neighboring Ashanti Empire.[6] This policing force would slowly grow in size and capability to meet the needs of the British Empire in its West African territories, and would later form the nucleus of both the Gold Coast and the Hausa Constabulary, both of which would become the Ghana Regiment and Southern Nigeria Regiment respectively by 1879. These regiments would be incorporated into the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) in 1900 by the British Colonial Office, following British military experiences in the Benin Expedition of 1897, as well as wider British efforts of complete reorganization of its African colonial units such as that of the Egyptian Army earlier in the year. During the Second World War, British-trained Nigerian troops saw action with the 1st (West Africa) Infantry Brigade, the 81st and the 82nd (West Africa) Divisions which fought in the East African Campaign (World War II) and in the Far East.

The roots of the ethnic cleavages which started to rip through the army after independence had some of their origins in colonial recruiting practices, with line infantry and the artillery being raised from the North, but during the expansion of the force during the Second World War a large proportion of more educated southerners being brought in to take up posts that required more technical training. Like in Ghana, there was significant pressure to "Nigerianize" the armed forces, with, for example, two officers being promoted to Brigadier as a concession to public opinion on the occasion of the last British commander arriving in Lagos. From a force of 8,000 in five infantry battalions and supporting units,[7] strength rose to around 120,000 in three divisions by the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970.[8] In terms of doctrine, the task of the Federal Nigerian army did not fundamentally change: its task remained to close with and defeat an organized enemy.

The rapid expansion of the Nigerian Army in the wake of the civil war witnessed a severe decline in troop quality.[9] The expansion process overseen by the Nigerian army command staff led to an extreme shortage of commissioned officers, with newly created lieutenant-colonels commanding brigades, and platoons and companies often commanded by sergeants and warrant officers. This resulted in tentative command-and-control and in rudimentary staff work by Nigerian army personnel.[10] One result of the weak direction was that the federal government's three field divisions fought independently, and competed for men and material. Writing in a 1984 study, Major Michael Stafford of the United States Marine Corps noted the following: "Inexperienced, poorly trained and ineptly led soldiers manifested their lack of professionalism and indiscipline by massacres of innocent civilians and a failure to effectively execute infantry tactics."[11] Among the results of this failure of command experience and professionalism was the 1967 Asaba massacre, resulting in the deaths of some one thousand civilians and individuals of Igbo descent.

In November 1970, the U.S. intelligence community concluded the following: "The Nigerian Civil War ended with surprisingly little rancor. The defeated Igbos are accepted as fellow citizens in many parts of Nigeria, but not in some areas of former Biafra where they were once dominant. [Iboland] is an overpoperated, economically depressed area, where massive unemployment is likely to prevail for some years." Furthermore, U.S. analysts would go on to state that: "Nigeria is still very much a tribal society, in which clan, tribal and regional jealousies, hostilities and interests count for more than national attachment. General Gowon, Head of the Federal Military Government (FMG), is the accepted national leader and his popularity has grown since the end of the war. The FMG is neither very efficient nor dynamic, but the recent announcement that it intends to retain power for six more years has generated little opposition so far. The Nigerian Army, vastly expanded during the war, is both the main support to the FMG and the chief threat to it. The troops are poorly trained and disciplined and some of the officers are turning to conspiracies and plotting. We think Gowon will have great difficulty in staying in office through the period which he said is necessary before the turnover of power to civilians. His sudden removal would dim the prospects for Nigerian stability."[12]

The influence of individual personalities is generally greater in the armies of developing states, as they tend to have weaker institutional frameworks. Key personalities involved in Nigeria included then-Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo was particularly important due to his efforts to reorganize his command, 3 Division, during the civil war to improve its logistics and administration. The reorganization he instituted permitted 3 Division to successfully conduct the offensive operations that would ultimately lead to the end the civil war in Nigeria. The Nigerian Army fought the Civil War significantly under-resourced; Obasanjo's memoirs chronicle the lack of any stocks of extra equipment for mobilisation and the "haphazard and unreliable system of procurement and provisioning" which lasted for the entire period of the war.[13] Arms embargoes imposed by several Western countries made the situation more difficult.

At the end of the Civil War, the three divisions of the Army were reorganised into four divisions, with each controlling territories running from North to South in order to deemphasise the former regional structure. Each division thus had access to the sea thereby making triservice cooperation and logistic support easier. This deployment formula was later abandoned in favour of the present assignment of sectors to the divisions. Thus 1 Division with HQ at Kaduna is allocated the North West sector; 2 Division with HQ at Ibadan South West sector, 3 Division with HQ at Jos North East sector and 82 Division with HQ at Enugu South East sector.[14]

Its formations include the 1 Division, headquartered in Kaduna in the north-west, and 2 Division (HQ Ibadan in the South-West, which includes 32 Artillery Brigade at Abeokuta).[15] 2nd Division also possibly includes 4 Brigade at Benin City, with 19 Battalion at Okitipupa and 195 Battalion at Agenebode. 52 Signal Regiment may be the divisional signals unit. 3 Division's headquarters is at Rukuba Cantonment, Jos, in the North-East, and includes 21 Armoured Brigade Maiduguri, 23 Brigade Yola, and 33 Artillery Brigades.[16] 81st Division (Amphibious) HQ in Lagos, which includes the 9 Brigade, based at Ikeja Cantonment in northern Lagos, 82nd Division (Airborne and Amphibious) HQ in Enugu in the South-East, which includes the 2 Brigade at Port Harcourt, 13 Brigade at Calabar and the 34th Artillery Brigade at Obinze/Owerri. The Composite Division at Enugu was formed in 1964 as 4 Division, in 1975 became Lagos Garrison Organization; in 1981 became 4 Composite Division; became a Composite Division in May 2002.[17] 3rd Armoured Division was responsible in 1983 for the security of areas bordering Chad.[18]

Lagos and Abuja have garrison commands, with the Lagos garrison as large as a division. 81st Division was previously the youngest division, formed on 26 May 2002 when the Lagos Garrison Command (as it then was) was upgraded to divisional status. The Division, therefore, inherited the security roles hitherto performed by the defunct Lagos Garrison Command.[19] However a later undated article in a Nigerian online newspaper says the 81st Division was later again renamed the Lagos Garrison Command. In the 1980s, the Army's brigades included the 7th Infantry Brigade in Sokoto. There are also Divisional Artillery Brigades, among which are the 32 and 34 Artillery Brigades,[20] ordnance corps units as well as Combat Engineer Regiments, and many other service support units spread across the country.

The 7th Division (also known as JTF-RO) was established in August 2013 for the war against Boko Haram. The creation of the new division brought to six the number of divisions. The 7th division is headquartered in Maiduguri.[21] The division includes a combat motorcycle unit as part of its 25th Task Force Brigade.[22] The purpose of this unit is stated as securing roads in Yobe and serving as a force multiplier in combat operations.[22] Training and Doctrine Command formed in 1981, and is located at Minna. It supervises the Army's schools, including the Depot. The Army sponsors the Nigerian Military School at Zaria and Command Secondary Schools all over the federation.

On 27 April 2023, the Nigerian Army conducted the largest Presentation of Colours in the Commonwealth on Eagle Square, Abuja, issuing 53 new colors to preexisting units an 28 colors to newly established units 81 colours being issued).[23]

Current formations include:

• 1st Mechanized Division — HQ in Kaduna[27]
  • 1st Mechanised Brigade
  • 3rd Motorised Brigade
  • 31st Field Artillery Brigade
  • 214th Recce Battalion[29]
• 2nd Mechanized Division — HQ in Ibadan[27]
  • 4th Mechanised Brigade
  • 9th Motorised Brigade
  • 32nd Field Artillery Brigade
  • 42nd Engineering Brigade
  • 244th Recce Battalion[29]
• 3rd Armoured Division — HQ in Jos[27]
  • 21st Armoured Brigade
  • 23rd Armoured Brigade
  • 33rd Field Artillery Brigade
  • Engineer Brigade (status unknown)
  • 243rd Recce Battalion[29]
• 6 Amphibious Division — HQ in Port Harcourt[28]
  • 2nd Brigade
  • 16th Brigade
  • 63rd Brigade
  • 42nd Engineering Brigade
  • Recce Battalion[29]
• 7th Infantry Division (OP-LD) — HQ in Maiduguri[27]
  • 21st Brigade
  • 22nd Brigade
  • 23rd Brigade
  • Engineer Brigade (status unknown)
  • 241st Recce Battalion[29]
• 8th Task Force Division — HQ in Sokoto[30]
  • 1st Brigade
  • 17th Brigade
  • 48th Engineer Brigade
  • 248th Recce Battalion[29]
• 81st Division (Amphibious) — HQ in Lagos[27]
  • 19th Mechanised Battalion
  • 165th Mechanised Battalion
  • 242nd Recce Battalion[29]
• 82nd Composite Division (Airborne and Amphibious) — HQ in Enugu[27]
  • 2nd Amphibious Brigade
  • 13rd Motorised Brigade
  • 34th Field Artillery Brigade
  • 7th Amphibious Battalion
  • 93rd Amphibious Battalion
  • 103rd Amphibious Battalion, Garikki.
  • 146th Amphibious Battalion
  • 245th Recce Battalion[29][31]
• Guards Brigade — HQ in Abuja
  • 3rd Battalion
  • 7th Battalion
  • 26th Battalion