Is the Nigerian Military Combat Ready or Just a Lavish Retirement Club for Billionaire Generals?

[Okey Iheduru]

Is the Nigerian Military Combat Ready or Just a Lavish Retirement Club for Billionaire Generals?

We are witnessing it in real time—a new world order taking shape, not through diplomacy or international law, but through raw power, nationalism, and unilateral aggression.

Across the globe, we see powerful nations shedding the pretense of collective security and cooperation, opting instead for military and economic strength as the ultimate bargaining chip. 

The days when borders were sacrosanct are fading fast; today, resources and strategic territories are up for grabs, and only nations with the will and capacity to defend themselves will survive unscathed.

We have witnessed Russia forcibly seize territory in Ukraine and China asserts its military dominance in the South China Sea. The U.S. now threatens to seize control of the Panama Canal, Canada, Greenland and potentially Gaza, and across Africa, regional powers are quietly strengthening their armed forces—not just for defense, but to extend their influence and project power.

In this new era of military aggression and geopolitical power struggles, we see clearly that any country without a strong, disciplined, and combat-ready military is openly inviting exploitation, humiliation, or even outright conquest.

This should be a wake-up call for the Nigerian Armed Forces. As Africa’s most populous nation and one of its largest economies, the nation stands exposed to both external and internal threats—whether from jihadist insurgencies, regional separatist movements, foreign-backed mercenaries, or powerful nations seeking to exploit its vast resources.

But are the Nigerian Armed Forces prepared for the looming conflicts on the horizon? Is the military combat-ready?

The Nigerian military, particularly the rank and file, embodies the courage and resilience of the nation. It has played a vital role in peacekeeping missions across Africa, from restoring order in Liberia to supporting democratic transitions in Sierra Leone. These efforts have showcased the military’s commitment to regional stability and its capacity to uphold peace beyond Nigeria’s borders.

However, the institution now grapples with severe challenges under its current leadership, struggling to adapt to an increasingly volatile global landscape. Issues of mismanagement, lack of strategic vision, and internal inefficiencies have weakened the military’s effectiveness, raising concerns about its ability to address both domestic and international security threats in the years ahead.

From our assessment, the brutal truth is undeniable: Nigerian military is neither combat ready nor capable of winning wars.

What should be a formidable force defending Nigeria’s sovereignty has decayed into a corrupt, incompetent, and neglected institution. Instead of protecting the nation, it has become a liability—bloated, dysfunctional, decadent, and more skilled at squandering defense budgets than securing the country.

It is said that the fish rots from the head, and President Tinubu, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, bears ultimate responsibility for the military’s glaring lack of combat readiness.

Under his leadership, the armed forces have been plagued by corruption, mismanagement, and a failure to address critical issues such as inadequate equipment, poor training, physical unfitness, and low morale among troops.

Instead of enforcing accountability and strategic reforms, Tinubu has allowed the military’s leadership to indulge in opulence (more on this later) while frontline soldiers face insurgents with malfunctioning weapons and insufficient support.

This neglect not only endangers national security but also exposes the president’s failure to uphold his constitutional duty to protect the nation.

For decades, the Nigerian Armed Forces have failed to defeat Boko Haram—a ragtag group of terrorists armed with second-hand rifles, Toyota Hilux trucks, and ideological zeal.

They have sometimes embarrassed themselves in United Nations peacekeeping missions and repeatedly shown a shocking lack of discipline, physical fitness, and even basic professionalism, with incidents of corruption and sexual misconduct further tarnishing their reputation. 

The military’s top brass, once battle-hardened professionals, have become overfed, overpaid, and excessively pampered, prioritizing personal luxury and wealth over national security and combat readiness. It has become a lavish retirement club for billionaire generals, where self-indulgence takes precedence over the duty to defend the nation.

Ironically, Nigerian generals take pride in the military’s 31st position out of 145 countries in the  Global Firepower Index, but this ranking is meaningless in real combat.

The GF index measures troop numbers, equipment stockpiles, and budgets while ignoring combat readiness, leadership, discipline, and battlefield performance. A nation’s strength is tested on the battlefield, not on a ranking list, making Nigeria’s GFP standing nothing more than an illusion.

In an age where only the strong will thrive, Nigeria remains defenseless—not because it lacks resources and manpower, but because the military has been systematically weakened from within.

How did Nigeria reach this point? What has gone wrong within the military? And is there a path back to combat readiness and the will to fight and win?

To address these strategic questions, we interviewed key military personnel and experts—granting anonymity to protect their identities—and analyzed thousands of documents from both the defense industry and published military research and local media.

Politicians Keep Military Leaders Dumb, Happy, and Passive

Nigeria’s military was once a force that commanded fear and respect across Africa. But that legacy has crumbled as politicians mastered a more insidious tactic—neutralizing and defanging the military by flooding its ranks with wealth and privilege.

The quickest way to strip a once-formidable force of its power and keep it confined to the barracks is to seduce it with luxury, transforming soldiers into complacent elites more invested in their comfort than their duty.

President Tinubu’s recent approval of lavish retirement benefits for senior military officers, including bulletproof SUVs, luxury sedans, annual foreign medical allowances of up to $20,000, and a retinue of domestic staff, is a glaring example of misplaced priorities in a country grappling with economic hardship and security crises. Top officers have become political clients, not military strategists.

Instead of incentivizing competence and combat readiness, these benefits reinforce a culture where military officers prioritize personal luxury over professional duty, undermining the very security they are meant to uphold.

Nigeria is the only nation where incompetent military leaders are rewarded not with demotions, but with promotions, contracts, and mansions. A senior general today is not expected to lead troops into battle; he is expected to sign procurement deals, secure defense budgets, and attend lavish political events.

Fighting Boko Haram: The Never-Ending Battle

Boko Haram, a scrappy terrorist group with second-hand rifles and motorcycles, has successfully turned the Nigerian military into a global laughingstock.

Despite having access to billions in defense budgets, better weaponry, and supposed elite training, the military has yet to decisively defeat an enemy that doesn’t even have a mechanized unit or functioning air force.

The glaring incompetence of the Nigerian armed forces forced then-President Goodluck Jonathan, under the direction of his National Security Advisor, Sambo Dasuki, to make a controversial decision: outsourcing the fight against Boko Haram to foreign mercenaries.

Among these were South African-based private military companies like Executive Outcomes (EO) and Specialized Tasks, Training, Equipment and Protection (STTEP). Predictably, this strategy also failed—dressing up a flawed approach with foreign mercenaries didn’t change the underlying dysfunction within Nigeria’s security apparatus.

This unprecedented reliance on mercenaries not only exposed the military’s inability to effectively combat the insurgency but also underscored the extent of corruption, poor leadership, and lack of operational readiness within Nigeria’s defense establishment.

Let’s be clear: within the Nigerian armed forces, there are exceptional senior officers and rank-and-file soldiers who have served this nation with unwavering courage, professionalism, and patriotism.

Their sacrifices stand as enduring symbols of honor, and their dedication reflects the highest ideals of service and loyalty. A grateful nation will forever cherish their contributions, recognizing them as pillars of integrity in the face of immense challenges.

Indiscipline and Physical Unfitness

Military discipline is the backbone of any competent fighting force, but in Nigeria, it’s more of a suggestion than a requirement. Soldiers have been caught extorting civilians at checkpoints, commanders involved in illegally trafficking mined diamonds, getting drunk on duty, and even selling weapons to the same terrorists they are supposed to be fighting.

Physical fitness remains a critical concern within the Nigerian Army, with a noticeable portion of the officer corps displaying a troubling lack of agility. Many appear more like sluggish, bloated sumo wrestlers than the disciplined, well-conditioned soldiers expected to lead a capable fighting force.

Despite explicit directives from the former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, urging officers to maintain rigorous fitness regimens and a healthy weight, obesity remains prevalent within the ranks. How do you chase terrorists through the Sambisa Forest when you start panting after climbing a flight of stairs?

The persistence of this issue suggests a failure in both discipline and enforcement, raising serious questions about combat readiness. At this rate, rather than intensive training, some officers might need a prescription for Ozempic to bring them up to basic fitness standards.

Military Equipment: Museum Artifacts

A combat-ready military should have modern and well-maintained equipment. Nigeria’s military, however, treats its weapons and vehicles like heirlooms from a forgotten war. Many of the tanks look like they were last serviced during the Biafra War, and the rifles often jam at the mere sight of an enemy.

Soldiers frequently complain about going into battle with Boko Haram with insufficient intelligence and ammunition, and malfunctioning weapons. At this rate, they might as well be taking on Boko Haram armed with nothing but the Senate President’s gavel.

The navy isn’t much better. Nigerian naval vessels seem to spend more time docked, rusting away, than patrolling the nation’s waters. Pirates and oil thieves operate with such impunity in the Niger Delta that one might suspect they have an informal membership in the Nigerian Navy Officers’ Mess.

The Generals: A League of Billionaire Landlords and Contractors

The senior leadership of the Nigerian military enjoys a level of wealth that is suspiciously high for a country where the troops are often underpaid or forced to buy their own uniforms. Many generals have perfected the strategy of “fighting” corruption by becoming its greatest beneficiaries.

Both during and after their military service, they “acquire” prime real estate as landlords, secure high-value contracts despite questionable qualifications, and are linked to businesses that leverage their influence for personal gain.

Many of these ventures operate through complex networks of shadow companies, often obscuring the true extent of their involvement and ownership.

They cruise around in taxpayer-funded luxury SUVs, live in palatial mansions staffed with numerous domestic workers, and attend exclusive parties all year round—because, apparently, indulging generals is considered a strategy in procuring their loyalty and keeping the peace.

The defense budget, which could be used to buy new weapons, train soldiers, and improve intelligence gathering, often disappears into the abyss of “classified expenditures.” This is a cesspool of corruption.

Meanwhile, troops in the field are left wondering why their rations consist of expired biscuits and sachets of water. Still wondering why we’re losing the war against terrorism?

Tribalism, Nepotism and Mediocrity: The Path to the Top

In any serious military, promotions are based on merit, experience, and battlefield competence. In Nigeria, they are alleged to be based on tribe, connections, and political favoritism.

The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) used to produce some of Africa’s finest officers. Now, it functions more like a social club for the well-connected. To get in, it doesn’t matter how smart or strong you are—what matters is who your father is and which ethnic group or region of the country you belong to.

The outcome of this mediocrity is incompetence. The Nigerian Air Force, for example, has a unique interpretation of precision airstrikes. Their pilots can’t seem to differentiate between enemy hideouts and innocent villages. It’s as if their targeting systems are powered by blind luck rather than training, expertise and technology.

And when they do manage to hit something, it’s often a wedding party or a refugee camp. Meanwhile, Boko Haram fighters roam freely, as if they were conducting military drills in broad daylight.

Strategic Imperatives to Overhaul the Nigerian Military for Combat Readiness

1. Purge Corrupt and Inept Leadership – Conduct a complete overhaul of military leadership, forcibly retiring all officers with records of misconduct, incompetence, or political entanglements. Promotions should be based strictly on merit, combat performance, and strategic thinking, not tribalism, nepotism, or political loyalty.

2. Mandatory Combat Fitness Standards – Enforce strict physical and combat readiness tests for all personnel, including senior officers. Any officer—regardless of rank—who fails physical and tactical assessments should be discharged or reassigned to non-combat roles. The era of obese, desk-bound generals must end.

3. End Luxury Perks & Redirect Funds to Equipment & Training – Abolish lavish peacetime benefits like bulletproof SUVs, foreign medical allowances, and excessive security details for retired officers. Redirect these funds toward modernizing weaponry, training elite combat units, and improving soldier welfare on the frontlines.

4. Create a Highly Mobile, Special Forces-Led Military Doctrine – Shift from a bloated, slow-moving military to an agile, tech-driven force led by well-trained special forces. Prioritize drone warfare, intelligence-driven operations, and rapid deployment strike teams to neutralize insurgents before they entrench themselves.

5. Severe Penalties for Indiscipline & War Profiteering – Institute military tribunals with strict enforcement against indiscipline, extortion, arms sales to terrorists, and operational failures. Any soldier or officer caught engaging in misconduct, looting, or abandoning duty should face immediate court-martial and public prosecution to restore discipline and accountability.

The Bottom Line

The Nigerian military stands at a crossroads between its intended role as a guardian of national security and the troubling reality of being perceived as a haven for incompetent generals enriching themselves at the nation’s expense.

While threats from insurgents, bandits, and external forces persist, the military’s readiness is undermined by corruption, mismanagement, and a glaring disconnect between leadership and frontline soldiers.

The lavish lifestyles of high-ranking officers contrast sharply with the underfunded, ill-equipped troops, raising serious questions about priorities and commitment to national defense.

For Nigeria to secure its future, the military must shed the image of a retirement club and reclaim its integrity as a disciplined, combat-ready force. This requires transparent leadership, proper resource allocation, and genuine investment in the welfare and training of soldiers.

Without these changes, the military risks not only failing in its constitutional duty but also eroding public trust, leaving the nation vulnerable to both internal and external threats.

https://africanmind.org/is-the-nigerian-military-combat-ready-or-just-a-lavish-retirement-club-for-billionaire-generals/

Okey C. Iheduru

e-mail: okeyi...@gmail.com

Recently published: "Africapitalist Foundations: The Political Economy of Philanthropy of the Super-Rich in Neoliberal Africa," Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne d'études du développement. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2024.2393586. 

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

This lengthy dystopian analysis does not mention the momentous changes in the neighbourhood impinging on Nigerian consciousness and inevitably to some extent making Tinubu a little nervous - as he should be, about Niger, his neighbour to the North and the comrades of like purpose, in Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso, states where the status and battle-readiness of their military is pivotal and beyond question, the French have been kicked out, and new alliances are being formed with Russia, China in the background. 

With regard to Nigeria, the hub of concern is the destabilisation of the country, a forced diversion and distraction from concentrating on the kind of development that could progress more rapidly in a peaceful, stable environment. 

Re - ” It is said that the fish rots from the head, and President Tinubu, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, bears ultimate responsibility for the military’s glaring lack of combat readiness.”

The fact is that the rot didn’t start on May 29, 2023 when President Tinubu became commander-in-chief. Back in 2021 we were supplied with  “An Analysis of Nigeria’s Security challenges”, a situation which he inherited. 

I have been keeping an eye on Okey C. Iheduru, especially when he writes about the Nigerian military vs insecurity. Professor Iheduru is sounding the alarm and recommending solutions, but who's listening? Who is not listening ? Doing? Doing nothing?  

His latest early warning signal is a cause for distress 

It is bitter and it is timely, coming as it does, at the heels of 

Commander-in-Chief Bola Ahmed Tibubu

dementing most vehemently 

the rumour that he had invited 

or given the green light to Macron

to set up a Military base in Nigeria,

perhaps just in case , 

even as the country accelerates 

towards total anarchy, 

due to Nigeria’s military inefficiency 

he would need a little help from his friends in France 

to strike down any serious insurgency

most violently !

There’s no mistaking how serious Okey C. Iheduru is about the survival of the fittest and the importance of being stronger than your enemies, even if in the Nigerian context apart from the wanton ransom kidnappers, the enemy in common is the enemy at large, is ostensibly the very dangerous Boko Haram who despite the havoc they have caused and are still causing, he derogatorily & contemptuously relegates & downgrades as “a scrappy terrorist group with second-hand rifles and motorcycles” - and if we are to take Professor Iheduru seriously, the more dangerous  enemies are the usual litany of woes about Naija’s resources and potentials being mangled and mismanaged by “Corrupt and Inept Leadership” etc going way, way back  -  as Ojukwu once said when interviewed by Stella, “The military takes over for one reason only : For Profit.” - and Nigeria has had a succession of military rulers doing their thing..

“The Military and the Monetary

Get together whenever they

Think it's necessary”  ( Gil Scott-Heron : Work For Peace ) 

Contemporary history and the current aware-ness: These days, the mere mention of the battle-readiness of the military anywhere in Europe and in any context, the very first thing that comes to the mind of the pessimist is the possibility that the Russia-Ukraine imbroglio could spill over and engulf all of Europe once more as the main theatre of world war, this time, the war to end all wars, namely the third world war, after which there certainly would be nobody left in Europe to speak of - and into ashes all our lust, hence the urgency in the phrase ”Prevention is better than cure” 

Practically speaking, to begin with, prevention mostly hinges on the size of your military budget  - the greater your pocket the greater your deterrence  - and in military terms this means that if for example everybody in the Middle East was armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons, such would be the equilibrium of terror ( as we now have between India and Pakistan) that eventually it would either all be peace & tranquillity or we blow ourselves up to discover the meaning of infinity / heaven, in eternity 

A little question from a still small voice: What percentage of Nigeria’s GNP goes to the military? 

[Cornelius Hamelberg]

Maxwell Khobe 

Maxwell Mitikishe Khobe came to a tragic end in Sierra Leone

The Nigerian Military : “The Nigerian Armed Forces, comprising the Army, Navy, and Air Force, is one of the largest and most powerful military forces in Africa, with a significant role in both national defense and international peacekeeping.”

The latest news headlines about The Nigerian Military are upbeat  

 

Some perspective:

World : Military spending by country

World :Military ranking by country ( Nigeria ranked 31 ) 

We are free to imagine that if Prof Iheduru’s recommendations were to be fully adopted & implemented and in addition to that the military budget were to be significantly increased, then the military’s fire-power would be formidable & more than capable in quelling insurgencies, rebellions, ransom kidnapping and wanton terrorism.  (But a note of reservation about the military’s budget being increased significantly before some of the irregularities have been eliminated completely : the danger of some of the top brass ogas getting too big for their boots and then we’d have Brer Iheduru writing learned epistles about the need to depoliticize the army, and that they should stay where they truly belong: in their barracks.)

Wouldn’t it be a good thing if some of the willing and able ( all regions) did military service in lieu of just the National Youth Service Corps ?

“The days when borders were sacrosanct are fading fast; today, resources and strategic territories are up for grabs, and only nations with the will and capacity to defend themselves will survive unscathed.” (Okey C. Iheduru)

 So true, so true : That’s how just across the border you have Guinean troops occupying Yenga, a diamond town in the East of Sierra Leone . Of course, the predatory Guineans might still want to blame it all on colonialism and want to justify their acts of aggression and the invasion of another sovereign nation by claiming that it’s all the fault of colonialism and colonial borders, that Yenga is a part of Sierra Leone, and that since the beginning of eternity Yenga has always rightly belonged to Guinea Conakry ! 

 It’s an old recurring problem that just won’t go away. Twenty years ago Sierra Leone’s President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah wrote a very polite letter to his Guinean counterpart, President Lanasana Conte, and please note the letter did not begin “Get the f-kkk - out of Sierra Leone  - or else !” , nor did it begin “Because of a difference of opinion we don’t have to be enemies?” Difference of opinion? Dude, we’re talking about my country 

No. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah had been Lansana Conte’s guest for a good six months, because it was in neighbouring Guinea that Kabbah obtained political asylum after he hopped into the helicopter that flew him to safety, otherwise he would have been arrested and incarcerated by Johnny Paul Koroma and his men. 

So,  Pa Kabbah’s  letter began 

“Dear President Lansana Conte,

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh !

My people are asking me why Guinean troops are still in Yenga three years after our civil war is over?” 

Bembeya Jazz National : Armée Guinéenne

Nigerian Army Rhythm Group: Ebawa Se 

  

On Thursday, 8 May 2025 at 20:31:22 UTC+2 Okey Iheduru wrote:

[Okey Iheduru]

Dear Cornelius:

Thanks for your riposte to the write-up about the combat-readiness of the Nigerian military which I posted on this platform a few days ago. 

I'd have loved to bask in your kind reviews, but unfortunately, I'm NOT the author. The piece is the work of "The Editorial Committee" of African Minds outlet. There's a url at the end of the article.

 

I've, however, made similar assessments, though less stridently, in a number of Nigerian military outlets, including three separate 3,000-word articles in The Bayonet: Professional Journal of the Nigerian Army Infantry Corps in 2017 and 2018. I've also given talks at NDA, Kaduna; National Defense College, Abuja; and Army War College Nigeria in which I made similar judgments, sometimes to the chagrin of several people (serving and retired officers) in the audience.

Regards,

Okey

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[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Wow.

A great well done, Ohey and Cornelius.

The beginning and the end of it all, in my view-political will.

Do all the political class want a strong military?

I doubt it.

If they did,how will the various private miltaries fare- Boko Haram, Fulani militia and the Northern kidnap, bandit and terrorist network?

 

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[Cornelius Hamelberg]

“Do all the political class want a strong military?

I doubt it” ( Oluwatoyin Adepoju)

No doubt, your doubts have a strong foundation. As we have all observed over several election cycles now, the opposition has always thrived on blaming whatever incumbent government for their inability to curb corruption, lawlessness and communal violence whether it’s occurring in Plateau State, Benue State, or Borno State (from where the current vice-president hails) Maiduguri being the headquarters, hub and epicentre from which Nigeria’s most distinguished Islamic terrorist organisation Boko Haram spread their trademark death and destruction. After the Chibok kidnapping, Goodluck Jonathan’s inadequate response to the  #BringBackOurGirls appeal cost him the 2015 presidential election, since he was deemed too toothless & “clueless” in dealing with that outcry. Muhammadu Buhari’s chilling promise that if he was cheated this time around “the dog and the baboon would be soaked in blood “didn’t help to make matters any better. 

(Mind you, I celebrated Brother Buhari’s victory in Turkey - where I happened to be on the 15th of May, 2015, celebrated big time with a bunch of Iranians ( no al-cohol) at the hotel where I was staying, as the 15th of May was also the day that the Iran Nuclear Deal came through. So we partied till the wee hours of the morning  - and when I eventually got back to Stockholm I had to pay a telephone bill of $400. I had been using the Wi-Fi at various hotels to follow events in Nigeria and had not set my phone on “roaming”. In fairness, I should have sent the bill to Bro Muhammadu Buhari .)

The opposition to Brother Buhari had promised to make the country “ungovernable” and as we all witnessed, to some extent they kept their promise as evidenced by the new spate of mayhem, ransom kidnappings etc  - but that formula didn’t work this time and JAGABAN trounced Alhaji Atiku & Peter Obi most resoundingly in that Mother Of All Nigerian Presidential Elections. They (the sour losers) are still licking their wounds, but apparently they haven’t quite given up yet and they are said to be regrouping, wishful thinking, the by then octogenarian Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would like to “unite” the opposition, under his umbrella of course, with his 81-year-old self as the presumptive flag bearer for the united opposition at the next Nigerian presidential election of 2027 

I notice that in your animosity for what you delight in referring to as “ Northern hegemony” you have selectively chosen “Boko Haram, Fulani militia and the Northern kidnap, bandit and terrorist network” and excluded all the miscreants from the East, the Owerri 419 mitoto artists, lawbreakers and ransom kidnappers etc

Nor do you mention the valiant Amotekun

The news just flashed on Swedish TV that the herdsmen have been at it again. It’s world news. It has been said time without number that the root causes have to be addressed and these flare ups should not be blamed on the religious identity of the herdsmen or viewed as merely symptomatic of “the religion of peace” 

I’m afraid that without Alagba Iheduru’s deeper knowledge about exactly what would bring about a stronger Nigerian military (certainly not just more money to the military budget to be squandered/sucked /sponged/syphoned off by leakages) and the implications of a stronger military, we would of course only be giving our fantasy speculations free rein. For example, I don’t know whether or not you relegate Miyetti Allah  with their own vested interests, as belonging to “the political class” but I’m certain that they wouldn’t like to see a stronger, empowered Nigerian military  - God forbid - wipe out their much maligned brethren the “Fulani Herdsmen” as some kind of”final solution”

Baba Kadiri (now missing in action in this forum) has suggested that to some extent the military is compromised in their fight against terrorism , in some cases there’s the dubious matter of how they hand over ransom money, in other cases there are suspicions about them being in collusion with the miscreants  -  there’s the mystery of how the terrorists have obtained some of their weapons  -there's a hint about who is supplying them with weapons, to the extent that the Nigerian military is sometimes outfoxed and outgunned by the “a scrappy terrorist group with second-hand rifles and motorcycles”

Alpha Blondy :Afriki 

Alpha Blondy : Kiti 

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Thanks Cornelius.

I don't recall reading anyone declaring they would make the country ungovernable for Buhari's govt.

PDP had been roundly defeated in the election, their ranks splintered as a good no of their stalwarts had been central to forming APC which defeated PDP.

GEJ had been thoroughly discredited by the Boko Haram/ Chibok crisis and had become infamous through the national and international campaigns to Bring Back Our Girls and the united front against him by the North and the South.

So who could have claimed they would make the country ungovernable for Buhari?

The insecurity crisis that blossomed in Buhari's time was the massacres, terrorism and extortion created by Fulani militia and violent Fulani herdsmen, with the open support of the two Miyetti Allah Fulani Sociocultural Organizations and the tacit support of the Buhari govt and later the crisis that erupted after Buhari insisted on using violence in tackling the then non- violent IPOB.

As for the balance of insecurity in Nigeria, insecurity is pervasive but I am not aware of any region where it has become institutionalized as in the North.

The Fulani militia and Fulani herdsmen crisis escalated with the Agatu massacre committed by them on Buhari's assuming office and spread to the South, where it persists till today but partly stemmed by initiatives like Amotekun and perhaps bcs strategic  drivers of the crisis might not exist in the North.

I did not use the term Northern hegemony in my earlier response.

 From my study of the situation, however,there seems to be  a degree of conflict of interests between some Northern figures and the Nigerian state,a compromise handicapping the nation..

This was glaring in the 2011 Boko Haram escalation and is evident in the the immunity enjoyed by Fulani militia and violent Fulani herdsmen, a group also possibly related to the bandit and terrorism crisis in Nigeria and the North in particular,.

These  affiliations may have made it impossible for the nation to destroy the Northern centred  kidnapping network even though the kidnappers do business using phones and some of them and their locations are known.

As long as the politics of insecurity is not frontally addressed, it won't end.

Thanks 

Toyin

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[Cornelius Hamelberg]

To Lord Chief Justice Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju Esq : 

Your Honour,

Sincere apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I’ve been keeping tabs on Pope Leo XIV and Trump and wondering when is Saudi Arabia going to invest $600 Million in Nigeria? 

On the whole, your memory serves you right when you say, not even on oath, on the holy Quran or Bible, “I don't recall reading anyone declaring they would make the country ungovernable for Buhari's government.” Coming to think of it, it makes sense that on the contrary, if anything, the dark foreboding in what at the time sounded like Brother Buhari’s unveiled threat about “the dog and the baboon” being “soaked in blood”, was more than a hint about ungovernability, if that election outcome smelled like something rotten in the state of Denmark… 

For certainty’s sake I consulted Pa Google : Nigerians : "Will make the country ungovernable" ?

Well, Fulani Herdsmen did not ostensibly enjoy the patronage or protection of their Fulani president. Nor was he the power fuelling Boko Haram. As you have also rightly pointed out, paradoxically, during his mandate period most of the mayhem of ungovernability was concentrated in the North and Middle Belt - Benue and Plateau where the clash between the local indigenous farmers and the cattle-rearing nomads, mostly passing through, their cattle in need of foliage and water in their long trek to the southern abattoirs, that and all the other inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions are keeping the conflict perpetually alive. 

The ransom kidnapping is everywhere without exception , and if we are to believe the lamentations recently penned by Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, then dear Nigeria is on the very edge of the abyss - of anarchy. So, what are you doing about it? You say, “As long as the politics of insecurity is not frontally addressed, it won't end.”  What do you mean by “frontally addressed”? 

 You should be grateful that the danger from the North hasn’t travelled further south to Rivers, and Cross Rivers, although some years ago my neighbour from Edo - as narrated somewhere here told me that when he was on a visit, one evening he saw a Fulani herdsman fully armed with an AK47 on his farm. With Fulani herdsmen on his mind all the time, of course he’s bound to see Fulani herdsmen everywhere, especially mingling with the evening shadows, whilst he’s enjoying a few bottle of lager on his balcony 

We ought not to trivialise the seriousness of these matters. 

In some of the discourses in this forum this phrase often pops up : No matter whose ox is gored. 

Indeed, all eyes etc being equal, it’s an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, a holy principle of justice, fair exchange is no robbery, hence "No matter whose ox is gored "

Maybe, only Mr Elephant can boast that his memory is not selective. As for the other dude, he never forgets, and on principle, he does not forgive, and that’s why in e.g. the matter of Gaza, he quotes AMALEK - bottom line: they did not fear GOD, and attacked Israel from behind! 

BTW, take a step back and shudder to imagine if things would have turned out much better or worse if like Boko Haram, Chibok style, HAMAS had kidnapped 276 Israeli schoolgirls and carted them off, not to the Sambisa forest or to the Negev Desert but to various underground tunnels in Gaza and married some of them during their first year in captivity ! Then instead of Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari foaming at the mouth, it would have been the mothers and fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, brothers, sisters, uncles, nieces, aunts, all Israel & Diaspora, Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV imploring Mr Netanyahu “BringBackOurGirls”

Nigeria is such a complex country. The politics is complex and complicated due to the country’s size, its polarized religious and ethnic ethnic diversity and the struggle of the various groups to control and dispense the largesse accruing from the country’s bountiful resources. 

Madilu System :Vincent 

Madilu System : Melancolique 

[Salimonu Kadiri]

Permit me to re-open discussion on the above topic which I feel has not been properly treated. The article of African-mind-organisation forwarded by Professor Okey C. Iheduru contained a compound sentence in its headline with two questions.  The first question is, "Is the Nigerian Military Combat Ready?" And the second question is, "Is Nigerian Military just a lavish retirement Club for billionaire Generals?" While the first question would appear belated, the second question seems extravagant. Why the first question appears belated I will explain later.

The African-mind-org. asserted that, "Under his (President Tinubu's) leadership the armed forces have been plagued by corruption, mismanagement, and a failure to address critical issues such as inadequate equipment, poor training, physical unfitness and low morale among troops."  Tinubu ought to have been a magician in order to conjure forth obese Generals within two years of his being in office, if we are to believe African-mind-org. Evidence that the Nigerian military has never been combat ready was first revealed when the social movement that called itself, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, launched a rebel assault on Composite Group Air Base in Maiduguri on December 2, 2013 and not in the last two years as African-mind-org would want readers to believe. For the sake of those who do not know, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad means People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad. They were engaged in communal self-help in agriculture, trade and commerce first within Borno State but they grew rapidly and expanded to Adamawa and Yobe States. The Governor of Borno State at the time, Ali Modu Sheriff, was so impressed by the movement's social engagements among the populace that he appointed one of their members, Alhaji Buju Foi, as Commissioner of Religious Affairs in 2007.  Then, in 2009, Governor Sheriff had first imported head helmet into Nigeria and saw to it that the Borno State House of Assembly promulgated a law compelling motorcycle riders to wear helmet or be arrested. Trouble came when a member of the social movement died and members trooped out on motor cycles to bury him without wearing helmet. When Police tried to arrest motorcycle riders on their way to the burial ground, riot broke out and the Army were called in to quell the riot. The leader of the movement, Muhammad Yusuf was arrested and handed over to the Police. He and Alhaji  Buju Foi died in the police custody in what was generally believed to be extra judicial murder during the Presidency of Umaru Musa Yar'Adua. Members of the People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad withdrew into the Savannah to train in warfare and returned in 2010 to avenge the murder of their leaders. The regime in Nigeria and their international backers gave the avengers of Muhammad Yusuf and Alhaji Buju Foi the name 'Boko Haram' which they fraudulently translated to 'Western Education is abomination.' For clarity, the name of the movement that resorted to arms conflict in the Northeast states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe in 2009 is, JAMA'ATU AHLIS SUNNA LIDDA'AWATI WAL-JIHAD which translates to, PEOPLE COMMITTED TO THE PROPAGATION OF THE PROPHET'S TEACHINGS AND JIHAD. That was the background of what the government of Nigeria and their western allies call Islamic Boko Haram's war, ironically, in Sharia governed states of Nigeria.

Back to whether Nigerian Military was combat ready in 2013 or not, let me recall that on September 8, 2010, President Goodluck Ebelle Jonathan appointed new Service Chiefs. They were: Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ola Sa'ad Ibrahim; Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubuike Onyeabor Ihejirika; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba; and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Subundu Badeh. However, President Jonathan had to reshuffle his Service Chiefs with effect from January 16, 2014, as a result of the activities of 'Boko Haram' that culminated in their attack on 79 Composite Group Air Force Base, Maiduguri International Air Port and some Army locations in Borno State on December 2, 2013, despite the fact that President Jonathan had on May 14, 2013 declared a state of Emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States. Therefore, as from January 16, 2014, the Chief of Defence Staff was Air Marshal Allex Subundu Badeh; Chief of Army Staff was Major General Kenneth Tobiah Jacob Minimah; Chief of Naval Staff was Real Admiral Usman O. Jibrin; and Chief of Air Staff was Air Vice Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu. 

Two months after Jonathan had changed the Service Chiefs, 200 'Boko Haram' fighters in a broad daylight, filed into Maiduguri in 12 Hilux pickup trucks to plunder Giwa Army Barracks. They met no resistance and withdrew orderly to their base in the Savannah after the attack. A month later, 14 April 2014, 'Boko Haram' drove in a convoy of vehicles at night into Chibok in Borno State to kidnap 276 female students and transported them to Sambisa forest situated 60 kilometres from Chibok without confronting with any arm of the Nigerian Armed Forces who were supposed to enforce dusk to dawn curfew in the States where emergency rule was said to have been declared. Where were the Nigerian Armed Soldiers? Where were the Nigerian Airforce pilots? And where were the Nigerian Police personnel? Thanks to the Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, Nigerians got to know that the Nigerian military was huge on payrolls but in reality they were very few in number. Equally, Buhari's competent Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, told Nigerians that a biometric audit of the Nigerian Police she conducted revealed that the Police Force contained 80, 115 ghost officers. Both Mrs. Adeosun and Mr. Magu were humiliated out of office for exposing treasonable robberies of security Funds committed by the Armed Forces Service Chiefs.  Let us look at what the EFCC under the leadership of Mr. Ibrahim Magu revealed about the Service Chiefs in Nigeria between 2010 and 2015 before Buhari became President.

  From September 8, 2010, to 15 January 2014, Lieutenant General Azubuike Onyeabor Ihejirika was the Chief of Army Staff. Between March 2011 and December 2013, he awarded contracts to two companies named Chok Ventures Ltd and Integrated Equipment Services Ltd. They were to procure various types of Toyota and Mitsubishi  vehicles worth 3 billion, 658 million, 293 thousand,846 naira and 94 kobo (N3,658,293,846. 94 kobo) without competitive bidding. Job completion certificate was issued and authenticated by the then Army Chief of Logistics, Major General D. D. Kitchner although the Army never received a single vehicle. Analyses of the various Bank Accounts of the two companies involved in the purchase of the vehicles for the Army showed transfers of huge money to individuals related to Lieutenant General Ihejirika, namely Raymond Ihejirika, Nkechi Ihejirika, Kingsley Ihejirika, Orji Ihejirika, and Naomi Ihejirika. None of them was employed or ever rendered any service for the companies. Who owned Chok Ventures Ltd and Integrated Equipment Services Ltd? The owner of the two companies was identified as Mr. Chinedu Onyekwere who by happenstance was brother-in-law to the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubuike Onyeabor Ihejirika. In April 2018, the EFCC announced that Lieutenant General Azubuike Onyeabor Ihejirika had in a plead bargaining process surrendered N29 million out of total N4.5 billion  stolen from the Army. Funds meant to buy weapons, recruit and train soldiers were converted to private wealth for top Army Generals which was why 'Boko Haram' could easily lunch an attack in Maiduguri, the Capital of Borno State, on December 2, 2013.

Before Air Marshal Alex Subundu Badeh was promoted by President Goodluck Jonathan to Chief of Defence Staff with effect from January 16, 2014, he was Chief of Air Staff. By the time President Buhari retired all the Service Chiefs at the end of July 2015, 'Boko Haram' was in control of 50,000 square kilometres of Nigerian territory which is greater than the entire landmass of Denmark. On August 24, 2014, Abubakar Shekau on behalf of Boko Haram declared Gwosa in Borno State as the Capital of their Islamic Caliphate. In addition to that 'Boko Haram' was in control of Baga, Bama, Gamboru, Ngala, Goniri, Dikwa, Buni Yadi, Marte and Madagali. In Adamawa, the home state of CDS, Air Marshal Alex Subundu Badeh, 'Boko Haram' was in control of Michika, Mubi North and South Local Government Areas. At a Senior Military Barrack in Abuja where his ceremonial pullout from the Service was conducted on Thursday, 30 July 2015, the Chief of Defence Staff, Retired Air Chief Marshal Alex  Subundu Badeh claimed that he presided over a military that was ill-equipped and poorly motivated troops. The Chief of Defence Staff's lamentation was a front-page report in the Daily Trust, Leadership and Punch Newspapers of Nigeria on Friday, 31 July 2015. On February 24, 2016, the EFCC conducted a search at N0. 6 Ogun River Street, off Danube Street, Maitama Abuja, owned by Chief of Defence Staff, Badeh and recovered $1 million cash. Documents recovered showed that he was the owner of a company named Iyalikam Nigerian Limited. In a letter signed by one Salamah Badeh and dated 23 June 2014 but acknowledged on 21 March 2016, the wife of CODS Badeh became sole signatory to the account of Iyalikam Nigeria Limited. Another company owned by CODS Badeh is Prince and Princess Multiservice Limited through which there was advanced plan to buy a Shopping Mall for N1.4 billion. Between November 2012 and November 2013 when Badeh was Chief of Air Staff, he deposited $900,000 into his Visa Gold account at First Bank Plc. Between January and December 2013, when he was Chief of Air Staff, Badeh  was transferring N558.2 million every month from the Nigerian Air Force Account into the account of Iyalikam Nigeria Ltd., after payment of Air Force Personnel salaries. In all, Badeh as Chief of Air Staff was arraigned in Court for stealing N8 billion from the Nigerian Air Force Account of which he sought plead bargaining and returned N4 billion in cash with some properties.

Lieutenant General Kenneth Tobiah Jacob Minimah who took over from Lt. General  Azubuike Onyeabor Ihejirika as Chief of Army Staff, 16 January 2014, was equally efficient in waging war against the Bank Account of the Nigerian Army as his predecessor in office. While 'Boko Haram' was ravaging towns and cities in the Northeast, General Minimah was planning how to plunder the Bank Account of the Nigerian Army. In order to accomplish the plunder, he registered a Company called CONELLA SERVICES Ltd on 17 November 2014. On the same day, General Minimah awarded a contract to Conella Services Ltd for procurement of 72 various arms and ammunition, including MRAP Vehicles and Mi-17 helicopters at the total cost of 125 million, 179 thousand, 299 dollars and 10 Cents ($125,179,299. 10). On the same day, General Minimah masterminded payment of 36 million,996 thousand, and 530 dollars ($36,996,530) into the Bank Account of Conella Services Ltd. On 15 April 2015, the balance of the awarded contract in Naira, N2,209,582,296, was paid into the account of Conella Services Ltd., without the Nigerian Army receiving any procurement from Conella Services Ltd. Again under plead bargaining, the EFCC told the court on 26 February 2018 that General Minimah had returned N1.7 billion in two tranches. And in April 2018, the EFCC disclosed that out of N13.9 billion General Minimah had stolen from the Nigerian Army, the EFCC had recovered N4.8 billion in cash and some properties.  

Air Marshal Adesola Nunayon Amosu took over the post of Chief of Air Staff from Air Marshal Alex Subundu Badeh with effect from 16 January 2014, following the elevation of the latter to the post of Chief of Defence Staff. After the Chief of Air Staff Amosu was retired in July 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari, the EFCC investigation discovered that Amosu and two others had stolen N21 billion from the Nigerian Air Force Account. Searches in one of Amosu's residences yielded $140,000 cash and as usual he applied for plead bargaining. Standing trial with him were Ex-Nigerian Air Force Chief of Accounts and Budgeting, Air Vice Marshal Jacob Bola Adigun, and Air Commodore Olugbenga Owodunni Gbadebo from whom N100 million cash was recovered. Houses worth N500 million was seized from Amosu and N381 million transferred from NAF's account into his wife's account was recovered by the EFCC. Amosu voluntarily returned N2.3 billion to the EFCC through  two bank drafts of N2 billion and N300 million respectively.  The EFCC disclosed that Air Marshal Amosu and colleagues laundered the N21 billion stolen from the Nigerian Air Force through five companies owned by them. The Companies were: Right Options Oil and Gas Limited, Judah Oil Limited, Defina Oil and Gas Limited, McAllan Oil and Gas Limited, and Lebol Oil and Gas Limited. EFCC pointed out that these were not Oil and Gas Companies as the names suggested but were Bureau de Changes in practice and reality. The Companies converted funds stolen from NAF into US dollars and returned them to Adigun and Olugbenga. Delfina Oil & Gas and McAllan Oil & Gas Limited paid a chunk of what went through them directly to Solomon Enterprises, a company owned by Air Marshal Amosu. That was why 'Boko Haram' could transport 276 kidnapped school girls in a convoy of 24 vehicles for sixty kilometres without air surveillance.

From 2012, the Chief of Naval Staff was Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba until 16 January 2014, when he was retired by President Goodluck Jonathan. In 2015, the EFCC discovered that a Company named Aquila Leasing Ltd, said to be owned by one Chukwuka Onwuchekwa, had received  the sum of 2 billion and 387 million naira from the Nigerian Navy Account without any contract. However, the sole signatory to the account of Aquila Leasing Limited was Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba implying that Chukwuka Onwuchekwa was a fictitious name in place of Admiral Dele Joseph Ezeoba. In 2017, when the case came up in the court only 1 billion and 825 million naira remained in the account and it was forfeited to the Federal Government.

Real Admiral Usman O. Jibrin took over from Ezeoba as Chief of Naval Staff on 16 January 2014. About two months in office, 13 March 2014, Jibrin instructed Admirals Bala Mshelia and Shehu Ahmadu of the Navy Budget and Account Sections to transfer from the account of Naval Engineering Services the sum of N600 million to the Diamond Bank Account of a Company named, Harbour Bay International Ltd., owned by Usman O. Jibrin, his wife Lami (as the Director), and his son, Abdulkadir. The 600 million naira was used to buy a property (House) at No. 7 Colorado Close, Maitama Abuja. The paper of the ownership of the property (the House) was prepared in the name of a private Company, Harbour Bay International Ltd, owned by Jibrin and his family.

It is remarkable that despite the fact that the Armed Forces Personnel have 24 hours standby duties, still, they all have registered private Companies to which they award procurement contracts which were not supplied even though full payments were executed. A times payments were made even without any contracts at all. In reality, the Service Chiefs all along have been fighting insurgents with ghost weapons and ghost armed personnel. This is why the current generation of the Nigerian Military is not, and can never be, combat ready. Since institutional decay in Nigeria is not limited to the Nigerian Armed Forces, we can equally, for instances, ask if the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and its affiliated Oil Refinery Companies are ready to refine crude oil or the Transmission Commision of Nigeria with its affiliates, GENCO & DISCO, are ready to generate and distribute adequate electricity for Nigerians? The answers are certainly no, because those who are to refine crude oil in Nigeria are themselves fuel importers with refineries based abroad and those who are to generate and distribute electricity in Nigeria are themselves Generator Importers.  

Thanks to Ibrahim Magu, the Acting Chairman of the EFCC who wrongly believed that President Buhari was very serious about stamping out corruption in Nigeria, otherwise, Nigerians would not have known how the Service Chiefs under President Jonathan plundered Funds appropriated for buying arms, recruiting and training soldiers, naval men and air pilots. Those who joined the Nigerian Armed Forces as officers, especially after 1966, did so not out of nationalism or patriotism but for self-interest and as a quick means of getting power and money. The current EFCC Chairman has dared not investigate how the billions of dollars appropriated during the eight years tenure of President Buhari were expended by his Service Chiefs, perhaps out of fear of what happened to Mr. Ibrahim Magu when he exposed the treasonable robberies committed by Service Chiefs under the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan. However, and judging by media publications hitherto, I am inclined to believe that the Service Chiefs of the Armed Forces under President Buhari's tenure and now under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are of the same plume as under President Jonathan.

S. Kadiri

---

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg <cornelius...@gmail.com>
Sent: 13 May 2025 23:36
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Is the Nigerian Military Combat Ready or Just a Lavish Retirement Club for Billionaire Generals?

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/5b6d307f-e4df-497c-9c03-ab028bbccb1cn%40googlegroups.com.

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Wow.