This Niger Republic crisis has highlighted the need for Nigeria to come up with an African defence plan

Ayo Akinfe

[1] First of all, Nigeria needs an intensified military presence in the Lake Chad Basin or we will end up with another Afghanistan on our hands. Boko Haram, Iswap and other terrorist organisations operating in the region need to totally eliminated

[2] It is also time to expand the Lake Chad Basin Force into a fully fledged Ecomog Army of about 20,000 men

[3] Borno and Yobe states each need a mechanised division of the Nigerian Army of about 10,000 troops each

[4] The Nigerian Navy needs to establish a Lake Chad Naval Command fully equipped with speed boats, amphibious troops and heavy guns

[5] We need a dedicated anti-terrorist Nigerian Air Force base established in Borno State

[6] Also, the Nigerian military fighting in the northeast needs to be decentralised with each division having its own independent air, naval and infantry capacity

[7] We desperately need a special commando division or at least battalion trained and equipped up to the competence levels of say the US Seals, the British SAS or the French Commandoes

[8] If we are serious about equipping our troops, one of the first things we need to do is start manufacturing our own hardware. It is naive to think that we will get the equipment we want, when we want it, in the quantities we desire and at the price we can afford by relying on the open market

[9] We need a new branch of the military called the Nigerian Marine Corp. Its sole function will be to promote Nigerian foreign and defence policy across Africa

[10] We need to start building international railway networks linking African countries, so troops can be moved across borders with ease