President Bola Tinubu has given Nigeria’s defence, intelligence and security chiefs 90 days to produce a comprehensive national threat assessment and a five-year strategic defence plan to strengthen the country’s response to growing security challenges.
The directive was announced by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, on Wednesday while inaugurating the Presidential Committee on National Threat Assessment and Five-Year Strategic Defence Operations Plan on behalf of the President.
The committee is expected to move Nigeria’s security strategy from reacting to attacks after they occur to anticipating and preventing emerging threats.
The development comes amid persistent security challenges, including kidnapping, banditry and insurgency, and barely 24 hours after Tinubu ordered security agencies to launch a coordinated operation to rescue victims of the latest mass abduction in Niger State.
Akume said the two strategic documents must be submitted to Tinubu within 90 days for consideration and approval.
According to him, the National Threat Assessment will identify existing and emerging threats, assess their implications and recommend appropriate government responses.
The five-year defence operations plan, meanwhile, will translate the assessment into clear operational requirements covering personnel, equipment, intelligence, infrastructure, logistics, technology and training.
The plan will also identify capability gaps and guide procurement priorities based on actual security threats rather than institutional preferences.
Akume stressed that Nigeria could no longer afford a security approach focused mainly on responding to threats after they had emerged.
He said the new framework would establish a clear link between threats, security objectives, capabilities, resources and measurable outcomes.
The five-year plan will operate on a rolling basis and be reviewed annually to reflect changing threats, technological developments and lessons from ongoing operations.
The committee comprises the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa; Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle; service chiefs and heads of major security and intelligence agencies.
Major General Adeyinka Famadewa (retd.) will coordinate and support the committee through the Office of the President’s Special Adviser on Homeland Security.
The assignment comes as Nigeria continues to battle kidnappings and violent attacks, particularly in the North-West and North-Central, while insurgency remains a major concern in the North-East.
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