Linus Aleke in Abuja

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has unveiled a plan to develop a joint doctrinal template to comprehensively tackle the menace of insurgency, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, transnational organised crime and other emerging security threats in Nigeria, West Africa, and by extension, the continent of Africa.

The Nigerian military, however, regretted that regional and sub-regional operations in the continent of Africa lack underpinning doctrines and concepts.

Speaking at the official unveiling of the Armed Forces of Nigeria’s Joint Doctrine and Warfare Centre in Abuja yesterday, the Chief of Defence Operations, Major General Emeka Onumajuru, stated that the newly established centre will fill this identified gap by developing doctrines and concepts that will drive multinational joint task forces in Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and African Union (AU) operations.

General Onumajuru said: “The establishment of the joint doctrine and warfare centre is borne of the need to consolidate jointness in the Armed Forces of Nigeria and to address inherent challenges in some joint operational areas. These are challenges that require an integrated defence doctrine and supporting structures.”

The centre, he said, will play a critical role in developing and refining military doctrine, ensuring that forces are equipped to operate effectively in an increasingly complex and dynamic security environment.

“It is also expected that the centre will, in due course, serve as a sub-regional hub for the development of doctrine and concepts that will guide regional operations and multi-national joint operations,” he added.

The centre, he said, will have staff from African countries, starting with the Lake Chad Basin and ECOWAS member states, while collaborating extensively with the Lake Chad Basin Commission, ECOWAS, and the African Union (AU).

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, said the centre will serve as a hub where military intellect will converge to evolve modern solutions to emerging complex security threats, stating that at the centre, they will develop refined and codified doctrine that will guide their joint operations.

According to him, “The Training and Doctrine Command of the Nigerian Army (TRADOC) in Minna, the Army Resource Centre, Armed Forces and Staff College, the Army, Air Force, and Navy War Colleges will all converge to make sure that we fight better and more efficiently.”

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, stressed that the Joint Doctrine and Warfare Center, Nigeria, will serve as a hub for knowledge sharing, as well as research and development.

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