Nigerian Army To Double In Size

The Nigerian Army will expand its current size of just over 100,000 to 209,000, Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai announced during a speech at the National Defence College on 13 January.As part of this expansion plan, a new 8th Division has already been established in northeast Nigeria, the 6th Division will be established in the South-South region, which covers the Niger Delta, and 12,000 personnel will be recruited in 2016, Lt Gen Buratai said.
“We will continue the phased implementation of our order of battle in order to enhance our posture to adequately respond to threats. As you are aware, 8th Division has just been established in the northeast and 6th Division will follow shortly in the South-South,” he said. “These expansions will go hand-in-hand with doctrinal review and the development of new strategies to perform our constitutional role.”
He said that the Nigerian Army currently has over 6,000 officers and 96,000 soldiers and that the ‘Order of Battle 2010’ plan called for this to grow to 18,966 officers and more than 190,000 soldiers.