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Resetting the Frontlines: Army Undergoes Rejuvenation Under Lt. Gen Shaibu’s Command

Published

8 months ago

February 11, 2026

…Intelligence-led warfare, troop welfare take centre stage
…Discipline, welfare, accountability define new era
…As sustained operations weaken terrorists, restore confidence

By Ibukunoluwa Adedeji

When Lt-Gen. Waidi Shaibu assumed office as the 25th Chief of Army Staff (COAS) on 30 October 2025, Nigeria faced an array of security challenges: insurgency in the North-East, banditry and kidnappings in the North-West, communal violence in the North-Central, and separatist tensions in the South-East. Troops were overstretched, public confidence was fragile, and adversaries were increasingly adaptive.

Yet within his first 100 days, Shaibu delivered renewed direction, restored confidence, and a reinvigorated operational posture. His leadership has begun to reshape both the internal culture of the Army and its external engagement with a nation hungry for stability.

From the outset, Shaibu emphasised leadership by presence. He undertook early and frequent visits to frontline formations, engaging directly with troops and commanders, inspecting bases, and holding candid discussions about operational realities. During one such visit, he reminded soldiers that “failure is not an option” and that the Army must “take the fight to the enemy and sustain the pressure”. For personnel operating under austere conditions, this visible command style carried symbolic and practical weight, signalling both accountability and support.

Within the ranks, these engagements have been interpreted as a reassertion of professionalism, initiative, and discipline at every level of command. Morale, strained by years of protracted internal security operations, has shown early signs of recovery.

Rather than pursue sweeping doctrinal changes, Shaibu has focused on tightening existing operations, closing gaps, and enforcing discipline. Commanders have been directed to prioritise sustained pressure over episodic offensives, denying armed groups freedom of movement, disrupting their logistics networks, and degrading command structures. This approach reflects an understanding that Nigeria’s threats are fragmented and mobile, and that lasting gains depend less on dramatic victories than on persistent control of contested spaces.

Central to this recalibration is the emphasis on intelligence-led operations. By urging formations to reduce predictability and adapt tactics to evolving threats, Shaibu has reinforced flexibility and responsiveness, particularly in theatres where adversaries exploit terrain, local vulnerabilities, and intelligence gaps.

Perhaps the most widely welcomed dimension of Shaibu’s early tenure has been his candour about logistics and welfare challenges. He has openly acknowledged equipment shortages, maintenance backlogs, and inefficiencies in supply chains — issues often underplayed at senior command levels. “You cannot demand excellence from soldiers without giving them the tools to succeed,” he told troops during one engagement.

Although such systemic problems cannot be resolved quickly, the early prioritisation of welfare and sustainment has resonated strongly across the ranks. It has reinforced the principle that discipline and performance thrive where leadership invests in people as much as platforms.

Shaibu has also been unequivocal in reaffirming professionalism and discipline as non-negotiable pillars of Army conduct. Troops have been reminded to adhere strictly to rules of engagement and to protect civilians, particularly in complex internal security environments where the distinction between combatant and non-combatant is often blurred. “Operational success and public trust are inseparable,” he has said, underscoring that legitimacy and restraint are as critical as kinetic force in modern conflict.

Civil–military relations and strategic communication have likewise received renewed attention. Under his leadership, the Army has sought to balance operational secrecy with transparency, explaining actions affecting civilians and reinforcing the reality that contemporary conflicts are fought as much in the court of public opinion as on the battlefield.

While his tenure remains young, early operational dividends are emerging. Dr Sani Abubakar, military scholar and publisher of OurNigeria News Magazine, describes Shaibu’s leadership as “reassuring and energising”, citing his combat credibility, operational boldness, and focus on troop welfare. According to Abubakar, Shaibu’s philosophy centres on sustained dominance of the battlespace, intelligence-led targeting, and uncompromising control of reclaimed terrain — principles vital to breaking cycles of retreat and resurgence by armed groups.

He notes that numerous terrorist elements have been neutralised under this approach, while others, weakened by sustained pressure, have surrendered. Equally significant, Abubakar observes, is Shaibu’s emphasis on sound administration. Fairness and transparency in postings and appointments are gradually restoring confidence within the officer corps and rank and file, addressing long-standing concerns about morale, meritocracy, and institutional trust.

Reflecting on Shaibu’s career, Abubakar describes him as “a thoroughbred, no-nonsense officer who led from the front and was unflinching in confronting Boko Haram terrorists”. His insistence on integrity, accountability, and merit-based leadership, he argues, is grounded in experience at every level of command and now shapes the tone of the Army’s senior leadership.

At the 100-day mark, Shaibu’s tenure is defined more by direction than dramatic outcomes — a reality seasoned analysts regard as realistic and prudent. Nigeria’s vast terrain, multiplicity of threats, intelligence gaps, and enduring resource constraints mean that no leader can deliver transformative security outcomes overnight.

Nevertheless, the gains are tangible. Operational coherence has improved, morale has lifted, and public confidence, though cautious, has begun to recover. The focus on sustained operations, intelligence-driven targeting, troop welfare, professionalism, and accountability represents a recalibration towards durability rather than spectacle.

Abubakar, while commending these advances, advocates deeper investment in human intelligence, expanded use of unmanned aerial vehicles, and sustained commitment to security sector governance reforms as essential for long-term efficiency and professionalism.

Beyond operational metrics, one of Shaibu’s most significant achievements lies in restoring institutional confidence. Among officers and soldiers, his leadership style — marked by visibility, firmness, and empathy — has reinforced the belief that competence, integrity, and merit are once again ascendant values within the Nigerian Army.

Among communities affected by violence, his emphasis on civilian protection, transparency, and professionalism has begun to reframe perceptions of the military from a distant security force to a responsive national institution committed to safeguarding lives and livelihoods. For political leaders and security stakeholders, his early tenure has provided reassurance that Army leadership understands both the complexity of Nigeria’s security challenges and the necessity of sustained, coordinated responses rather than episodic reactions.

Ultimately, Shaibu’s success will be measured not by early momentum but by enduring outcomes: fewer attacks, safer communities, and restored public confidence in the state’s capacity to protect its citizens. Troops will judge whether leadership intent continues to be matched by resources, reforms, and consistent follow-through.

What is already clear, however, is that Lt-Gen. Waidi Shaibu has reset the tone at the top of Nigeria’s Army. Through leadership by presence, operational discipline, attention to troop welfare, and an unambiguous commitment to professionalism and accountability, he has laid the foundations for sustained institutional recovery.

In a security environment where patience is scarce and pressure relentless, these early gains matter. They suggest that under Shaibu’s stewardship, the Nigerian Army is not merely reacting to threats, but regaining the initiative, and crucially, the confidence needed to confront Nigeria’s most persistent security challenges with resolve, coherence, and credibility.

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Business

Turning Africa’s Raw Materials Into Wealth: The ARMS 2026 Industrial Agenda

Published

3 days ago

September 29, 2026

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

For decades, Africa’s vast natural resources have powered industries and economies far beyond the continent, while many African countries have remained largely exporters of unprocessed commodities and importers of finished products.

That familiar pattern is now coming under renewed scrutiny as policymakers, researchers, investors and industrialists seek to change the direction of Africa’s resource economy.

At the centre of that conversation is the second edition of the Africa Raw Materials Summit (ARMS 2026), scheduled for October 19 and 20 at the Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja, under the theme: “From African Feedstock to African Factories.”

Organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), the summit is being positioned as more than another gathering of policymakers and industry stakeholders. It is intended to provide a platform for confronting the structural challenges that have kept African raw materials largely disconnected from local manufacturing.

Africa has for years operated largely within a “pit-to-port” economic model, exporting raw materials while importing expensive finished products.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the summit on Tuesday in Abuja, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso, said the event would bring together policymakers, investors, researchers, technology providers and industrialists to develop practical strategies for transforming Africa’s abundant natural resources into industrial wealth.

The challenge, therefore, is not simply the abundance of resources, but the continent’s ability to transform those resources into industrial value, employment, technology and wealth within Africa.

Nigeria alone, according to the RMRDC, has more than $582.4 billion in documented non-renewable natural resources, while the wider continent possesses substantial deposits of critical minerals, agricultural raw materials and industrial feedstock.

Yet, the benefits of this resource endowment have often been constrained by inadequate processing capacity, weak infrastructure, limited technology, financing gaps and fragmented regional value chains.

From Dialogue to Industrial Action

ARMS 2026 builds on the maiden edition held in May 2025, which attracted more than 1,000 delegates from across the world.

The inaugural summit also witnessed the unveiling of the Ten-Year Raw Materials Transformation Roadmap (2025–2034) by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owen Enoh.

The roadmap was designed around areas including technological capability, climate-resilient processing and backward integration, establishing a policy framework for greater domestic utilisation of Africa’s raw materials.

The second edition is expected to move the conversation further by bringing policy, capital, technology and industrial stakeholders around practical mechanisms for turning raw materials into locally manufactured products.

One of the major proposals highlighted by the RMRDC is the 30 per cent Mandatory Value Addition Bill, which seeks to establish a statutory minimum level of value addition to Nigerian raw materials before export.

The Council says the proposed framework could support job creation, import substitution, foreign-exchange conservation and increased manufacturing contribution to the economy.

Building the Infrastructure for Value Addition

The industrial transformation envisaged by ARMS 2026 goes beyond legislation.

A major concern is the “missing middle” between where raw materials are produced and where factories are located.

Poor transportation networks, inadequate cold-chain facilities, weak rural roads, limited testing and certification infrastructure and border-related delays can make locally sourced materials more expensive and less competitive.

Consequently, logistics and infrastructure constitute one of the five principal pillars of the summit.

The objective is to develop more reliable corridors connecting farms and mines with processing centres and manufacturing facilities, thereby reducing losses and improving the movement of industrial inputs.

The Digital Dimension

Technology is also becoming an important part of the Council’s strategy.

The RMRDC says it has developed the Nigeria Integrated Information Statistical System for Raw Materials and Products (NISSRAMP), described as a digital repository containing information on feedstock deposits, specifications, production outputs and industrial absorption rates.

The Council has also highlighted its transition towards paperless operations and its certification as a Data Controller/Processor of Major Importance by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission.

Such digital infrastructure could provide investors and manufacturers with better information about the availability and characteristics of raw materials while supporting more informed industrial planning.

Turning Waste Into Industrial Inputs

Another major component of ARMS 2026 is the proposed expansion of the circular economy.

The summit will examine how agricultural by-products, mine tailings, scrap metals and biomass can be recovered and reused as inputs for new production processes rather than being treated simply as waste.

The RMRDC argues that such an approach could lower raw-material costs while supporting more sustainable and climate-resilient manufacturing systems.

For Africa, where industrial expansion must increasingly balance economic development with environmental considerations, waste industrialisation could become an important part of the continent’s manufacturing conversation.

From National Production to African Value Chains

The African Continental Free Trade Area is another important element of the summit’s agenda.

The RMRDC sees AfCFTA as an opportunity to create regional value chains in which raw materials sourced in one African country can be processed and supplied to manufacturers in another.

Under such a model, Africa would move beyond simply exporting commodities to external markets and develop stronger internal networks for supplying chemicals, refined minerals, agricultural inputs and other industrial materials across national borders.

This approach places regional integration at the heart of Africa’s industrialisation strategy.

Bridging Research and Capital

A recurring weakness in many developing economies is the gap between research and commercialisation.

Innovations may emerge from universities, research institutions and laboratories without receiving the financing, equipment or market connections required to become commercially viable.

ARMS 2026 intends to address that gap through technology commercialisation and capital linkages, connecting research outputs with investors, development finance institutions and industrial off-takers.

The RMRDC has also cited partnerships with the Bank of Industry for commercial-scale post-harvest processing and a South-South technology-transfer partnership with the National Innovation Centre par Excellence in Shanghai, China.

A Larger Industrial Conversation

The scale of ARMS 2026 is expected to be significantly larger than the maiden edition.

The organisers project more than 1,800 delegates from all 54 African countries and global industrial partners.

The programme will feature high-level policy dialogues, technical panels, an advanced raw materials and technology exhibition, industrial site visits and the African Raw Materials Industry Awards.

The exhibition, in particular, is expected to showcase locally fabricated processing machinery, advanced domestic materials, green chemicals and engineered commercial inputs.

Beyond the speeches and exhibitions, however, the real significance of ARMS 2026 will ultimately depend on what happens after the summit.

Africa’s challenge has never been a shortage of raw materials. The more difficult question has been how to transform those resources into factories, products, skilled employment, technology and sustainable economic opportunities.

For Nigeria and the rest of the continent, the proposed shift from “pit-to-port” to “feedstock-to-factory” therefore represents a broader debate about the future structure of African economies.

ARMS 2026 seeks to place that debate firmly on the industrial agenda — with value addition, technology, finance, infrastructure, circular production and regional trade at the centre.

If the commitments and partnerships generated by the summit translate into measurable industrial activity, the event could provide another platform for Africa to examine how its enormous resource base can support stronger domestic manufacturing.

The message from the organisers is clear: the continent’s raw materials should not only leave African soil as commodities; they should increasingly become the foundation for African industrial production

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