FG Set to Restructure Armed Forces

•Prioritises training of civilian component

Senator Iroegbu in Abuja

The Federal Government in a major policy decision is set to overhaul and restructure the Nigerian Armed Forces to better able tackle the emerging security challenges in the country.

The Minister of Defence, Brig-Gen. Muhammad Mansur Dan-Ali, disclosed this in Tuesday while receiving the White Paper Committee’s report on the draft of the Nigeria National Defence Policy 2015.

Dan-Ali noted that despite the myriad of security challenges, especially the emerging threats and increasing sophistication of non-state actors, Nigeria is yet to review the 2006 National Defence Policy, 2006.

According to him, the asymmetric nature of conflicts and global terrorism threatening the sovereignty of nation-states calls for periodic review of the country’s defence policy.

He sad: “The dynamic nature of our global environment and emerging threats to defence and sovereignty of nations require this important document to be reviewed periodically to address these new developments and challenges.

“The NNDP 2006 has not been reviewed even though the nation has undergone transformation in terms of development as well as security challenges. These new developments and challenges in the domestic and global environment have direct impact on national defence and security.”