Tinubu orders security assessment and defence plan for Nigeria

President Bola Tinubu has approved the quick preparation of a National Threat Assessment and a five-year Strategic Defence Operations Plan. This plan aims to improve coordination among Nigeria’s defence, intelligence, and security agencies.

The president's Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Adeyinka Famadewa, will lead a committee made up of 11 members tasked with drafting the strategic defence operations plan.

The committee includes the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; the Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa; the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle; the Chief of Defence Staff, Olufemi Oluyede; the Chief of Army Staff, Waidi Shaibu; the Chief of Air Staff, Sunday Aneke; and the Chief of Naval Staff, Idi Abbas.

Also part of the team are the Director-General of the Department of State Service, Tosin Ajayi, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Muhammed Muhammed.

President Tinubu announced this directive on Wednesday during a Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House in Abuja. He emphasized the need for a clear framework to tackle changing security threats in the country.

The president mentioned that this new framework would help everyone understand the threats Nigeria faces, the goals to achieve, and the resources needed to address them.

He pointed out recent successes in security efforts, like the rescue of students and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. This showed how important it is for defence, security, and intelligence agencies to work together.

“The operation demonstrated what can be achieved when our agencies work together with a clear objective and the necessary intelligence,” the president said.

He added that operational needs are often looked at separately, without a shared national threat assessment or a unified medium-term plan. This makes coordination harder and limits the effective use of resources.

The National Threat Assessment will find out the main threats facing Nigeria, decide how urgent they are, and set goals for handling them.

The Strategic Defence Operations Plan will turn this assessment into specific priorities, pinpointing the forces and resources needed in each area, identifying gaps in current capabilities, and laying out equipment and support needs along with a timeline for implementation.

The committee can also consult or include representatives from other ministries, departments, and agencies if their input is needed.

President Tinubu told the committee to start work right away and submit the finished National Threat Assessment and Strategic Defence Operations Plan for his review within 90 days.

Once approved, this plan will be the main guide for coordinating military and defence operations in the medium term. It will also help prepare a multi-year defence budget and procurement plan, ensuring resources go towards agreed operational priorities and key national security needs.

The president also instructed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Office of the National Security Adviser to take all necessary actions to put these directives into effect.