Tinubu to Homeland Security Adviser: Develop Five-Year National Defence Plan Within 90 Days
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the immediate preparation of a comprehensive National Threat Assessment and a rolling five-year Strategic Defence Operations Plan to confront Nigeria’s evolving security challenges.
The President directed his Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka Famadewa, to coordinate the high-level committee responsible for drafting the plan and provide secretariat support.
The committee includes National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu; Defence Minister General Christopher Musa; Minister of State for Defence Bello Matawalle; Chief of Defence Staff General Olufemi Oluyede; and the chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy.
Also involved are the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Tosin Ajayi, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Muhammed Muhammed.
Tinubu issued the directive during Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House in Abuja, stressing the urgent need for a unified national framework to strengthen coordination among Nigeria’s military, intelligence and security agencies.
According to the President, the National Threat Assessment will identify the country’s major security threats, rank them according to urgency and establish clear operational objectives for tackling them.
The five-year defence plan will translate those findings into specific operational priorities, identifying the forces, equipment and capabilities required in each theatre of operation. It will also highlight existing gaps, support requirements and implementation timelines.
Tinubu cited the rescue of pupils and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State as evidence of what security agencies can achieve through coordinated intelligence and clearly defined objectives.
“The operation demonstrated what can be achieved when our agencies work together with a clear objective and the necessary intelligence,” he said.
The President observed that security operations and resource requirements were often considered separately, without sufficient reference to a unified threat assessment or medium-term national strategy. He said the new framework would improve coordination and ensure the efficient deployment of personnel, equipment and financial resources.
The committee was directed to commence work immediately and submit the completed threat assessment and strategic defence plan for presidential consideration and approval within 90 days.
Once approved, the plan will become the principal framework for coordinating Nigeria’s military and defence operations over the next five years. It will also guide a multi-year defence procurement and expenditure programme focused on agreed operational priorities and critical national security needs.