Will more defence funds make Nigeria safer

Nigeria has spent about 32.88 trillion naira on defence in the last 15 years, roughly 12.5 percent of total national budgets of 262.834 trillion naira in that period, yet insecurity remains widespread across the country .

Despite these rising allocations, many communities still face insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes and oil related violence, raising doubts about whether more money alone can make Nigerians safer .

Security trackers estimate that over 100,000 people have been killed in violent incidents since 2012, with thousands abducted and about 3.726 million citizens displaced and living in roughly 3,900 camps nationwide .

The trend has continued into 2026, with at least 1,091 deaths recorded from violent attacks in just the first 41 days of the year, underscoring the scale of Nigeria’s security crisis despite years of increased defence spending .

Against this backdrop, the National Assembly has intensified scrutiny of defence budgets as lawmakers work toward passing the 58.47 trillion naira 2026 Appropriation Bill, which includes about 5.41 trillion naira for defence and security, one of the largest shares in the proposed budget .

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has indicated that the upper chamber is targeting March 31 for passage of the 2026 budget after committees complete sectoral reviews and harmonise their reports, stressing that delays in defence funding could undermine ongoing operations .

In the House of Representatives, committees on Defence, Army, Navy and Air Force are also reviewing the defence proposal, focusing on troop welfare, logistics, intelligence and equipment procurement, and insisting that higher budgets must produce measurable improvements in security .

Lawmakers say their renewed oversight is driven by the continuing spread of violence, from insurgency in the North East and banditry in the North West to farmer herder clashes in the North Central, oil theft in the Niger Delta and maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea .

In defending the 2026 proposals, Chief of Defence Staff General Olufemi Oluyede told lawmakers that the Armed Forces alone cannot solve Nigeria’s security problems and called for stronger Nigeria Police Force and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to secure areas cleared by the military .

He explained that while soldiers lead major operations, the police and civil defence have wider community presence and larger numbers, and need to be strengthened to hold liberated communities so that criminals do not return .

Oluyede noted that troops are under pressure because they are deployed across many theatres and rarely get rest, while recruiting more soldiers comes with additional costs for housing, logistics and welfare, making inter agency cooperation even more important .

He disclosed that special forces have been deployed to Benue and Plateau to tackle persistent violence in the Middle Belt, with plans to send additional troops to Kwara and parts of Niger State under a new joint operation called Operation Savannah Shield .

According to him, resources are being pulled from other theatres to reinforce this new operation, while the military continues efforts to stabilise the North East, where the situation has improved, even as serious challenges remain in the North West and parts of the North Central .

The CDS also said Nigeria is working with foreign partners to strengthen intelligence gathering, but emphasised that cooperation is being carefully managed in line with President Bola Tinubu’s guidelines to ensure the country’s sovereignty is protected .

Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, agreed that security cannot be achieved by force and funding alone and called for deeper institutional reforms, better coordination and a whole of government, whole of society approach .

He argued that defence and security are central to national development and that Nigerians expect results in the form of safer communities, restored livelihoods and renewed confidence in the state, not just bigger budget figures .

Benson said future investments must also prioritise strategic communication, community peacebuilding, cyber defence, border security technology, police reforms and joint intelligence data centres to tackle the roots of insecurity and not only its symptoms .

As the National Assembly continues to examine the defence figures when it reconvenes from recess, lawmakers are expected to decide not only how much will go to security, but also what performance and accountability conditions will guide the use of the funds .

The larger debate remains whether increased defence spending has delivered better security for ordinary Nigerians, and whether new allocations in the 2026 budget will finally translate into significant reductions in violence across the country .

Available figures show that Nigeria’s overall budget rose from 5.086 trillion naira in 2012 to 58.47 trillion naira in 2026, while annual defence allocations grew from 921.91 billion naira to 5.41 trillion naira over the same period, yet insecurity continues to exact a heavy toll .