President Bola Tinubu’s decision to expand the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions marks one of the boldest restructurings of the military in recent years, aimed at decentralising command, strengthening security and reducing response time to emerging threats. But as the new formations take shape, questions around manpower, resources, logistics and, particularly, the geographical contiguity of the states under each command are emerging, raising important questions about how effectively the ambitious reform can deliver on its promises. Chiemelie Ezeobi reports In sweeping reforms and restructuring that will decentralise Nigerian Army commands, tighten border security, and cut down the time it takes soldiers to reach an emergency, President Bola Tinubu recently approved the expansion of the force from eight divisions to twelve. With the sweeping restructuring, four new divisional headquarters will rise in Makurdi as 5 Division; Ilorin as 9 Division; Jalingo as 10 Division; and Benin City as 83 Division, joining the existing commands in Kaduna, Ibadan, Jos, Port Harcourt, Maiduguri, Sokoto, Lagos and Enugu. The announcement came via a State House statement from Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, who described the move as a “landmark” step in reshaping the country’s security architecture. Holistic Reforms Alongside the divisional expansion, President Tinubu approved the recruitment of 28,000 additional personnel, continuing a pattern of investment that has included new military hardware and welfare improvements for troops. The recruitment of 28,000 additional personnel is meant to give these new commands the manpower to actually function, rather than existing as headquarters on paper alone. According to the president, implementation will roll out in two phases with the first covering the 5, 9 and 10 Divisions and a reorganisation of existing formations, is billed for completion by September 2026. The second, which stands up the 83 Division in Benin City, is expected by December 2026. What’s Expected Undoubtedly, the presidency has laid out ambitious goals for the restructuring with the expectation of better protection for critical national infrastructure like pipelines, power installations, and transport corridors, alongside sharper counter-insurgency and internal security operations. Perhaps the most important aspect of the new divisions is the promise of speed and faster military response to emerging threats nationwide. Because for communities in the Middle Belt battling farmer-herder clashes, or in the South-South facing pipeline vandalism and kidnapping, a division headquarters located closer to home is meant to translate into troops arriving in hours rather than days. Breaking Down the New Map Under the new structure, Nigeria’s 36 states are distributed across twelve commands: 1 Division in Kaduna, which overseas Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Jigawa States; 2 Division in Ibadan, which covers Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and Ondo States; 3 Division in Jos, which superintends Plateau, Bauchi and Gombe States. Others include the 5 Division in Makurdi, which covers Benue, Nasarawa and Kogi States; 6 Division in Port Harcourt, which commands Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States; 7 Division in Maiduguri, with Borno and Yobe States; 8 Division in Sokoto, which covers Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States; 9 Division in Ilorin, which covers Kwara and Niger States. For 10 Division in Jalingo, it covers Taraba and Adamawa States; 81 Division in Lagos covers Lagos, and Ogun States; 82 Division in Enugu, covers Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi and Imo States; while 83 Division in Benin City oversees Edo, Delta and Bayelsa States. The four newcomers — Makurdi, Ilorin, Jalingo and Benin City, effectively split the old Middle Belt and South-South commands into finer-grained zones, each theoretically closer to the communities it protects. Hitting the Ground Running Hitting the ground running after the announcement, the The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, has already appointed pioneer General Officers Commanding (GOCs), conducted initial on-site needs assessments, launched a massive 28,000-personnel recruitment drive, and completed advanced combat training for troops being deployed to these new formations. For the leadership appointments, Major General Moses Gara was named GOC of the 5 Division (Makurdi); Major General Yakubu Yahaya took command of the 9 Division (Ilorin); and Major General Chinedu Ralph Nnebeife was appointed as the pioneer GOC of the 10 Division (Jalingo), while that of Benin City will come with the second phase of the implementation. In terms of the promised welfare, the presidency last week announced a massive salary increment ranging from 30 per cent to 80 per cent for the Nigerian Armed Forces, which will
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