Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has approved a significant expansion of the country’s military, authorizing the army to grow from eight divisions to 12 and adding 28,000 new personnel to its ranks, the presidency announced Friday.
Spokesperson Bayo Onanuga confirmed that four new army divisions will be established in the cities of Makurdi, Ilorin, Jalingo, and Benin City as part of the restructuring effort.
Along with the new divisions, the government has also approved increased spending on military equipment, operational readiness, and the welfare of troops, all aimed at modernizing Nigeria’s armed forces.
The new 12-division structure will maintain headquarters in eight cities, with the newly created units covering portions of central, northeastern, and southern Nigeria.
The rollout is planned in two stages. The 5th, 9th, and 10th divisions are expected to be fully operational by September, while the 83rd Division in Benin City is slated to be up and running by December.
The expansion comes as Nigeria faces a host of ongoing security crises, including a 17-year Islamist insurgency in the northeast, widespread banditry and kidnappings in the northwest, communal clashes in the central region, and separatist movements in the southeast.
