New Army Divisions: Veterans split over timeline, funding fears

By Omeiza Ajayi, ABUJA Retired military chiefs have cautioned President Bola Tinubu to fully resource the Nigerian Army’s existing eight divisions before pressing ahead with the newly approved expansion to twelve, warning that personnel and equipment gaps in the current formations, an unrealistic implementation timeline, and inadequate funding could undermine the initiative.“Unless you have this combination of organisation… and also equipment that is balanced, unless you have an appreciable number, your battalion, or your brigade, or your division is not going to function properly,” he said, adding that military scientists recommend units operate at 90 to 100 percent of TOE strength.“If you take the map of Nigeria based on what we used to have, you will notice that between the division that is in Sokoto and the one that is in Ilorin, there is a very big gap in terms of distance and space,” he said, warning that a fast-moving hostile force On the feasibility of the phased timeline, Atolagbe pushed back against suggestions that it was overly ambitious, noting that some proposed division headquarters, such as in Ilorin, already sit on existing barracks and battalions.