President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated a Presidential Committee on National Threat Assessment and Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan, with a 90-day deadline to deliver both documents for presidential consideration and approval.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, who inaugurated the committee on Wednesday on behalf of the President, charged members to approach the assignment with “the highest degree of professionalism, objectivity, urgency and patriotism.”
The committee is tasked with producing two key documents: a National Threat Assessment — a comprehensive and objective analysis of Nigeria’s security landscape — and a rolling Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan to translate that assessment into practical, prioritised operational requirements.
Speaking at the inauguration, the SGF said the move marked an important step in strengthening Nigeria’s capacity to “understand, anticipate, plan for and respond effectively to an increasingly complex and evolving security environment,” noting that contemporary security threats had become “increasingly interconnected and adaptive, with the capacity to exploit gaps between institutions, jurisdictions and operational theatres.”
While acknowledging recent successes recorded by the Armed Forces and other security agencies across various theatres, the SGF said the government must move beyond responding to individual security challenges and instead build a system capable of anticipating threats, setting priorities, allocating resources rationally and sustaining operational momentum.
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“In simple terms, we must establish a clear path from threat to objective, from objective to capability, from capability to resource, and from resource to measurable outcome,” he said.
He observed that operational requirements were sometimes considered independently, without sufficient reference to an agreed national threat assessment or a unified capability plan — a situation he said made coordination more difficult and limited the efficient deployment of scarce resources.
Under its Terms of Reference, the committee is mandated to review existing and emerging security threats facing Nigeria and assess their urgency and strategic implications; define operational priorities and identify required capabilities in each theatre; identify capability gaps; and determine procurement priorities based on assessed threats rather than institutional preferences. It will also establish implementation steps and realistic timelines, with measures for monitoring progress and assessing outcomes.
The five-year plan is expected to provide the medium-term horizon for force development, capability acquisition, infrastructure development, training, maintenance, research and the strengthening of Nigeria’s defence industrial base. It will operate on a rolling basis and be reviewed annually to accommodate emerging threats and changing operational realities.
The committee will be coordinated and supported by the Office of the President’s Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa (Rtd).
Its membership comprises the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu; Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (Rtd); Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Muhammad Matawalle; Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Waidi Shaibu; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas; Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu; Director-General of the Department of State Services, Tosin Ajayi; and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Muhammed Muhammed.
In his closing remarks, Famadewa thanked President Tinubu for the confidence reposed in members, describing the assignment as a shared national responsibility. He said his role would be to facilitate collaboration rather than command members, and disclosed that subcommittees would be established to enable members focus on specialised areas and ensure the assignment is completed within the stipulated timeframe.
The SGF assured the committee of the full support of his office, adding that Nigeria’s military and security personnel “deserve a strategic framework that clearly defines their objectives and provides the capabilities, resources and support required to accomplish them.”
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