Nigeria: Do We Have An Army?

Men thanx, i ve removed it.

@FACE

You are funny. We know ourselves sha. All of us na one, no shaking.

Why UK not Nigeria army?

is this facts?

shey dem soboma george don dey beg

It's a well known fact that the Air force and Navy were severly weakened by Abacha and babangida's regime.

I dunno who's talking about our MiGs, but our stock of MiG 17s and 21s are pretty much grounded now. Our alpha jets are a joke, unable to withstand any modern fighter in aerial combat.

From Wikipedia

The Nigerian Air Force is the air arm of the Nigerian military. It is one of the largest in West Africa, consisting of 100+ fighter aircraft including SEPECAT Jaguars, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s, and Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jets, and a handful of Russian made bombers and military transport aircraft. However in recent years many of them are no longer airworthy.

In 2005 it was reported that Nigeria has approved $251 million USD to purchase 15 Chengdu F-7 fighters from China. The deal includes 12 F-7NI (NI = Nigeria) single seat fighters, and 3 FT-7NI dual-seat trainers. [1] The $251 ($252?) million package includes $220 million for 15 aircraft, plus $32 million for armaments, including 20 live PL-9C AAM, 10 training PL-9 rounds, unguided rockets, and 250 kg bombs.

Nigeria had previously considered a $160 million deal to refurbish its fleet of MiG-21's by Aerostar/Elbit Systems, IAI, and RSK MiG. However, with the new F-7 purchase, the government of Nigeria has decided to scrap the refurbish option and grounded its fleet of MiG 21's.



[Aircraft
Combat aircraft
15 Chengdu F-7 (12 F-7NI, 3 FT-7NI)
32 MiG-21 (grounded, to be retired)
18 SEPECAT Jaguar (grounded, to be retired)
Trainers
60 RV-6
12 MB-339
24 Aero L-39
37 Bulldog T1
24 Dassault-Breguet/Dornier Alpha Jet
20 Do 27
36 Do 28
Transport aircraft
5 G.222 (Possibly being refurbished by Italy) [3]
1 Boeing 707
1 Boeing 727
1 Boeing 737
1 BAe 125
2 Dassault Falcon 900
9 Do 228
6 Fokker F27
1 Fokker F28
1 Gulfstream II
1 Gulfstream IV
9 C-130
Helicopters
14 Hughes 300
24 BO 105
6 Mi-24
9 Mi-34
Transport helicopters
11 Eurocopter Puma
12 Eurocopter Super Puma
4 Mi-8



All our SEPECAT JAguars and MiGs are to be scrapped!

Yes, we have the largest air force in west africa, but that isn't sayin gmuch

@Mariory

They don't have anything more than i said. Ilhave lived in different Airforce bases north, south, east and west in nigeria; and i'm still living in one of the bases, so i know what i'm saying. Take it or leave it. Most of those Aircrafts listed in wikipedia don't exist in the NAF inventory. It's pure propaganda. Go to their combat base at Makurdi, PH, Yola and Kainji and visit their hangars and see for yourself, fleet of grounded jet figthers and combat helicopters.

It may also interest you to know that most pilots in the NAF have not flown any plane for more than 15 years now while some have been grounded and will never fly in the NAF again because there are no aircrafts for them to fly; especially those who were type-rated as MIG-21 and Jaguar jet pilots as well as BO-105 helicopter pilots.

@Mariory
Sorry to burst your bubble, but contrary to poular Nigerian Opinion, people do not exist solely to mess up wiki entries, and the entire open source encyclopaedia thingy works pretty well.

A recent BBC research showed Wikipedia to be as accurate as the Encyclopaedia Britannica on scientific issues.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4530930.stm

  It's really sad that almost everyone looks down on the men and women that serve in our country's military,so i typed down a few points that i think everone should know:

1- Nigeria (unlike most african countries) produces 20%-if not more- of her weapons. That means that all firearms used by the army,navy,airforce,police and customs (except the state security service) is produced in nigeria. These include the FN-FAL,berreta 9mm,browning hi-power,GPMG,grenades,mortars,etc.

2- We have an armoured personnel carrier assembly plants run by Styer and located in bauchi. Currently, the plant is responsible for the repairs and upgrade of our FV101 scorpion tanks used for recon. ops.

3-All bulldog trainer aircraft used for airforce pilot basic training is assembled in nigeria. And we still have an aircraft assembly plant run by Dornier in Kaduna.

4-Our country's military is not just the sole power in west africa, but the mainstabilising force here and in Africa as a whole. And that is a fact.

5-For incompetent soldiers/sailors/airmen that most of you paint them to be, they've performed exceptionally well in battle. For example:
a-We crushed Charles Taylors NPLF rebel force and brought back peace to Liberia.
b-Just before the fall of Free-town during the war  in Sierre-Leone, a unit of Nigerian soldiers were responsible for the protection of a hotel used by the Americans to evacuate all foreign natioanls within the country.And although they faced an enemy numerically superior to them with no hope of any reinforcement as all other units were busy fighting to defend the capital, they held out until everyone was safely evacuated,thanks to their superior fire discipline,training,and of course our Nigerian alpha jet pilots that flew combat air support that day.Sadly most part of Freetown fell at the end.But the tactics used to recapture the capital  is studied in West Piont.
c-In Ivory Coast, the Nigerian airforce was responsible for the evacuation of some Nigerian students trapped while on a field trip to the country when the crisis there escalated.
d-Our airforce pilots carried covert operations flying weapons and supplies into Zimbabwe in support of the ZANU-PF in the 1970s.
e-Back home in the Niger-Delta before the cult war in sept. 2007 btw the Joint Task Force (JTF) and the cult groups (de-bam,de-well,etc), the federal govt chose not to use the military because they,along with the top military and intelligence agencies chiefs believed that the crisis could be solved through dialogue. Besides,everyone was scared of another Odi. So the military was restricted to protecting the water ways,govt oilfield assets and personnel and anti-bunkering ops. However when they were drawn into the fight in PH,due to the police's inability to curb the activities of the cultists/militants, the military performed very well,and they had the support of everyone living in PH. They engaged these cultists in densely poplulated areas,killing a large number of them and destroying hideouts (thanks to members of the state security service and military intelligence units that infiltrated the various groups), and restoring peace and security to port harcourt. But the arm of the JTF that really impressed me was the airforce. They used the Mi-35 Hind gunship in densely populated areas with no precision weapons you find in hi-tech military forces in the world but still inflicated maximum damage on the cultists with little or no damage to public property,and no innocent civilian was killed in any of the airstrikes.This is a testament to the training and discipline of these pilots and those soldiers/policemen that played the roles of combat air controllers. However we still have problems hunting them down in the creeks, due to lack of more heliopters and gunboats. but that may soon change as the govt has already placed an order for a squadron (11-16 units) of augusta-109 combat helicopters for the airforce and 2 ATR 42 MP maritime patrol aircraft also for the airforce.     

if we dont have an army, what do we have fire brigade or boys scout

Our country's military is not just the sole power in west africa, but the mainstabilising force here and in Africa as a whole. And that is a fact.

the egyptian, libyan and south african forces could be considered stronger than the nigerian army. stop with the generalizations

Forget the Nigerian Army. Like our national football team the green eagles, they are over-rated. Years of neglet by successive goverments have destroyed profesionalism and decipline. I doubt we can even defeat Cameroon if war were to break out between both countries today.

Babangida and Abacha deliberately weakened the armed forces to preserve their illegitimate goverments. Many people in the army today did not join to fight any wars. It used to be the shortest route to power until money-miss road politicians came onboard.

Peacekeeping is a different ball game from open warefare. I have little respect for our soldiers unfortunately, especially the officer class. They have not earned it. Not in the Niger Delta. Not in the streets where they are no more than bullies. Not anywhere.

"the egyptian, libyan and south african forces could be considered stronger than the nigerian army. stop with the generalizations "

If it comes to quantity of arms, and in some cases quality,these countries you've just mentioned are ahead of us,especially south africa. but with the exception of south africa,i do not have much respect for the rest.Reasons?The egyptians are basically being spoon fed by the americans who give them a large amount of what they use provided they do nothing against Isreal, and i still don't see much professionalism.the same goes for the libyans,who got their collective asses whooped by the chadians in the 80s.Unlike us (doubt that?The Germans in East Africa in world war one, the Japanese in burma- WW2,NPLF in liberia, RUF in sudan, and currently the militants in the Niger-delta).They also don't wield as much influence on the world stage as we do to three things:

-our robust foreign policy
- our economy (2nd largest in africa)
-our oil

If i may also add, they've not even done so much as we have when it comes to peacekeeping/enforcement/protection of other african countries sovereignity as we Nigerians have.Even Ghana has done a far better job than them.

Now,i'm not saying that we're the best.God knows we have a lot of flaws, thanks due to corruption and the past military rule. But we've been trying to fix these flaws.I can proudly say that our military boasts of very many intelligent officers and men trained not only in the country,but also in prestigious military academy in the US,UK,FRANCE, INDIA,PAKISTAN,ISREAL ,CANADA were they tend to excel.Today, unlike most african countries, our fire power has improved.Due to the conflicts in the niger-delta, and the dangerous world we currently live in,we've also had to change our doctrine in the way we fight, embracing trainings such as counter insurgency (COIN), better ways of intelligence gathering (ELINT and HUMINT), hostage rescue, command and control ,etc.Our national war college also happens to be one of the best in africa,with officers from other african,and even european countries attending it.

Anyway, we still have a lot to fix in the military, especially the airforce.As you know, air power plays a major role in modern conflict.

For those who say the Nigerian millitary is worth there salt, all they need to do is see there incompetency in quenching the insurgency in the Niger Delta. The only thing they know is how to pick on harmless, defenseless citizens, afterall, this is the same army where in order to cope up with the inadequacies or lack of funding for a well equipped and well trained standing army, soldiers are subjected to inhumane treatment all in the name of toughness. This cadets are not only subjected to horrible treatments, but molestation to make them subordinate. Proper 21st century millitary training is substituted for brutal and archaic "training".  Let's see them perform a simple millitary manuever or quell an insurrection or uprising in the North whenever those great ones go crazy again. This is the so called "powerful army" that was woeful while enduring serious casualties during ECOMOG operations in sierra leone and liberia in the 90's despite the fact that the millitary was underreporting or flat out denying the number of millitary dead.

For those who say that Nigeria's army is the strongest in West Africa should know that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

@morenike
no mind them o, before the niger delta crisis started, they were spending more money on the ministry of defense than education and agriculture, who knows what they are defending.

This cadets are not only subjected to horrible treatments, but molestation to make them subordinate.

What do you expect? You expect their trainers to feed them with candy? This is how you weed out poor-officer material because you are expected to make decisions under an intense or very stressfull conditions.In the end what you have are capable men.You think ours is bad?Find out more about the Plebe period that cadets of the US military academy go through.My favourite are the russians and Isrealis.