Tinubu Hands Aso Rock Security Czar 90-Day Deadline to Draw New Defence Blueprint to Secure Nigeria

…Orders Five-Year War Plan as FG Moves to Unify Military, Intelligence Operations Against Terrorism, Banditry

By Yinka Giwa
President Bola Tinubu has handed his Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa, a pivotal role in coordinating a sweeping reassessment of Nigeria’s security threats and the preparation of a new five-year strategic defence operations plan aimed at sharpening the country’s response to terrorism, banditry and other emerging security challenges.

The President on Wednesday directed Famadewa, who operates from the Presidency, to coordinate and provide secretariat support for an 11-member high-powered security committee charged with producing a comprehensive National Threat Assessment and a rolling five-year Strategic Defence Operations Plan within 90 days.

The initiative brings together the country’s top military, intelligence and national security officials and is intended to create a single operational framework around which Nigeria’s defence deployments, intelligence operations, equipment requirements and future security spending will be organised.

Tinubu gave the directive at the Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Abuja, against the backdrop of recent security operations which the Presidency said demonstrated the gains possible when the military, intelligence and security agencies operate under a common objective.

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

Also on the committee are the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Tosin Ajayi, and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Muhammed Muhammed.

The committee is empowered to consult or co-opt officials of other ministries, departments, and agencies where their participation is considered necessary.

Under the presidential directive, the first task will be to produce a National Threat Assessment identifying the major security threats confronting Nigeria, ranking their urgency, and defining the operational objectives required to counter them.

The five-year Strategic Defence Operations Plan will then translate the assessment into military and security priorities, detailing the forces and capabilities required in each theatre of operation, existing capability gaps, equipment and logistical requirements, and a timetable for implementation.

The plan is expected to become the principal medium-term framework for coordinating Nigeria’s military and defence operations once approved by the President.

Significantly, it will also provide the foundation for a multi-year defence expenditure and procurement programme, potentially linking future weapons purchases, equipment acquisition, and other defence spending more closely to identified threats and operational priorities.

Tinubu said the current approach, under which operational requirements are frequently considered individually without sufficient reference to an agreed national threat assessment or unified medium-term plan, had made coordination more difficult and constrained the efficient deployment of resources.

The President cited the recent rescue of pupils and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State as evidence of what closer cooperation among security and intelligence agencies could achieve.

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

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who briefed State House correspondents after the FEC meeting, said the initiative was part of a broader attempt by the administration to consolidate recent gains against terrorists and bandits and strengthen the country’s security architecture.

According to Idris, the government is seeking to ensure that the military and other security agencies have a clearer framework for cooperation and the resources necessary to sustain operations across the country.

He linked the five-year defence initiative with other measures recently approved by the administration, including increased remuneration for military personnel, expansion of the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions, and additional housing for members of the Armed Forces.

“If we put all these together, you see the direction that Mr President and the Federal Government are going, ensuring that our security agencies and our military personnel who are fighting so that Nigeria can remain safe for all of us are given the right atmosphere and the support that all of them require and need for them to continue to defend our country,” Idris said.

He said the protection of lives and property remained the government’s primary responsibility, adding that the administration intended to intensify its security measures.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is determined to further deepen that, so that once and for all we can take out this issue of insecurity from our land,” the minister said.

In another decision reinforcing the government’s focus on military welfare, FEC approved the direct purchase of 600 four-bedroom terrace duplexes at Bristow City Development, Life Camp, Abuja, for members of the Armed Forces.

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Rabe, said the latest approval followed an earlier decision to provide 2,056 housing units for military personnel, taking the total number so far approved to 2,656.

The housing programme forms part of a Federal Government target to deliver 10,000 housing units for the Armed Forces over five years.

Rabe said accommodation had become a major component of the administration’s welfare package for servicemen and women, explaining that some housing estates developed for military personnel effectively function as barracks because they incorporate military offices, guard rooms and other facilities.

He said the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had been given responsibility for delivering the 10,000-unit programme and was progressively presenting projects to FEC for approval.

The minister also said the government was subsidising housing projects across the country as rising construction costs continued to put home ownership beyond the reach of many Nigerians.

According to him, the government could spend about N18 million constructing a housing unit but sell it for about N12 million, while similar properties could go for between N8 million and N9 million in some locations, depending on construction and land costs.

Beyond military welfare, however, the centrepiece of Wednesday’s security decisions remains the 90-day assignment given to the Famadewa-coordinated committee.

Tinubu directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Office of the National Security Adviser to take immediate steps to implement the directive.

At the end of the 90-day exercise, the National Threat Assessment and Strategic Defence Operations Plan will be submitted to the President for consideration and approval, after which the five-year blueprint is expected to guide military operations, capability development, defence procurement and the allocation of security resources across the country.