Insecurity: Nigerian Army needs Adequate funds, Modern Equipments, etc – Comrade Musa Mohammed

A Kaduna based journalist, activist and public analyst, Comrade Musa Mohammed (Moonlight), has called for increase in Nigeria’s military strength in terms of capacity, modern equipment, manpower (adequate funds), and capabilities to deal with emerging security challenges.

"The modern military equipment includes advanced weapons like drones, precision rifles, guided missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), alongside specialized vehicles such as tanks, armored personnel carriers, and stealth aircraft. Key infantry equipment includes night vision goggles, ballistic vests, and versatile machine guns, while support systems like advanced radars, satellite communication, and sophisticated artillery (e.g., HIMARS, self-propelled howitzers) are crucial for battlefield operations".

Comrade Mohammed, who is also the publisher of  Moonlightnews, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna on Friday.

He said that Providing adequate funding and modern equipment to the Nigerian Army is a recognized need to enhance its capacity against insurgents and ensure national security, with the government committed to modernization efforts, though issues of corruption in procurement processes and insufficient funds remain significant obstacles. Research indicates that insufficient funding and a lack of modern arms hamper the army's effectiveness, making adequate financing and transparent procurement essential for success.

He said, the strength of the nation’s military was not commensurate with its population, land mass and proximate volatile neighbours.

According to him, adequately funded military institutions can improve training, ensure proper maintenance of equipment, and enhance the welfare of personnel. 

"Adequate funding and up-to-date equipment help position the Nigerian military to meet future challenges and defend the nation effectively".

“ The president should know that the challenge Nigeria is facing is more than that of South Africa, Algeria, and Egypt but at the moment, they are doing far better than us in terms of fighter jets, bombers and tanks.

“I think we should channel more funding to our armed forces and bring ourselves at par with a country like Pakistan.

“In terms of population, we have over 200 million plus together with Pakistan; the kind of security challenges that Pakistan is facing is similar to the current security challenges we are facing.

“The banditry, the drug cartels, the insurgents, dangerous neighbours – the military of Pakistan is about 600,000 or more and here, we are just struggling with 200,000 or more not to talk of equipment,’’ he said.

He also called on the government to improve the remuneration of military personnel in line with global standard.

Comrade Mohammed also, urged all Nigerians to play active role in tackling the challenges of insecurity in the country, however called for good governance and a rein to political violence in the country.

"Even though the military has been able to stabilise the situation by bringing insurgency to a halt, the root causes have not been addressed".

According to him, although insecurity in the Northeast has been largely tackled, the resurgence of banditry in the Northwest has made some of the insurgents in the Northeast to join the bandits.

“In fact, some of them have gone as far down as Niger to meet their collaborators there because the root causes have not been addressed.”

He commended the military for achieving a great deal in tackling the security challenges in the country.