# The Nigerian Armed Forces

> The Nigerian Armed Forces comprise the Army, Navy and Air Force under the Ministry of Defence, commanded by the President as Commander-in-Chief and coordinated day to day by the Chief of Defence Staff. Tracing their roots to colonial-era units raised from 1863, the modern forces field well over 100,000 active personnel and lead the country's counter-insurgency, internal security and regional peacekeeping operations.

**Category:** Military & Security · **Updated:** 2026-07-26 19:36:35 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/nigerian-armed-forces

## Key facts
- **Branches:** Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force
- **Commander-in-Chief:** The President (Bola Tinubu, as of 2026)
- **Chief of Defence Staff:** General Christopher Gwabin Musa, 18th CDS, appointed 19 June 2023
- **Earliest antecedent unit:** Glover Hausas, raised 1863 in Lagos
- **Nigerian Army formed:** 1960, at independence, from the Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment
- **Ministry of Defence established:** 1 October 1958
- **Active personnel:** c. 135,000 (DefenceWeb) to c. 230,000 (GlobalFirepower), estimates vary by tracker
- **2024 defence budget:** ≈₦1.65 trillion / ≈$1.1bn (DefenceWeb); $3.9bn per GlobalFirepower's 2026 assessment

## Sources
- About Us — Nigerian Air Force — Nigerian Air Force (airforce.mil.ng) (https://airforce.mil.ng)
- About Us — Nigerian Navy — Nigerian Navy (navy.mil.ng) (https://navy.mil.ng)
- About Us — Federal Ministry of Defence, Nigeria (defence.gov.ng) (https://defence.gov.ng/about-us/)
- Nigeria — country military profile — DefenceWeb (https://www.defenceweb.co.za/security/african-militaries/nigeria/)
- Legacy of Empire: How British Military Traditions Shaped the Nigerian Army — Historical Nigeria (https://historicalnigeria.com/legacy-of-empire-how-british-military-traditions-shaped-the-nigerian-army/)
- Nigeria Military Strength — GlobalFirepower (https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.php?country_id=nigeria)

_NigeriaStuff.org — free encyclopedic reference on Nigeria. Full article at the canonical URL above._