Sani Usman: Number of soldiers grossly inadequate… there’s need for more recruitment

Sani Usman, former director of army public relations, says there is a need for more recruitment into the armed forces.

Usman spoke on Wednesday during an interview on Arise Television.

Speaking on how to tackle the worsening insecurity in the north-west, Usman said the country’s armed forces is “grossly inadequate,” considering the security challenges bedevilling the nation.

He said no meaningful development can be achieved in the country if the safety of lives and property is not guaranteed.

He added that security should be given the priority and “seriousness it deserves”.

“The number, the human resources of the Nigerian armed forces is grossly inadequate given the security challenges. Both officer and lower cadre,” Usman said.

The former army spokesperson also said the armed forces needs more sophisticated weapons to bolster its arsenal.

“Most importantly, even though there was massive procurement by the previous administration, the dynamism of security challenges means they would be wear and tear,” he said.

“So, equipping the armed forces is equally important. More so, some of them have gone out of their way, locally, they have started fabricating and producing some certain things. Take for instance the Nigerian navy. So these are things we should prioritise.

“And also, the military industrial company so that we can be self-reliant. There are many things to prioritise so that we can reduce the cumbersome bureaucratic process of purchasing equipment.

“Most importantly, to a large extent, the security challenges require more information and intelligence and it is not always you rely on human intelligence. You need modern equipment that can do a lot of the job.

“Not only that, they could also be carrying our targeted operations, so we need more of this.

“Where there is none, we should be making efforts to procure. It’s not just at the operational and tactical level, it should be at strategic level as well.”