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The Global Revolution In Military Affairs And Combat Effectiveness: Challenges And Prospects For The Nigerian Armed Forces
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The pace of technological advancement is unprecedented. In the past,
technological advancement was either contingent on or catalyzed by
military needs, but today, technological innovations seem to dictate the
ways and means of war fighting.7 Developing countries therefore, need
to cope with this wave of change and its challenges. Developing
countries like Egypt, Brazil and South Africa have some advantages. They
possess an appreciable level of technology and a strong defence
industrial base which can match some of the challenges. This is due to
the adaptation of technology available to their peculiar environments.
Nigeria, in view of her low defence industrial base, needs to examine
the options available. Modern technology is having an overwhelming
influence on the world and one is either part of it or prey to it.8 This
is pertinent if Nigeria must become relevant in the global RMA in order
to be effective in modern warfare.
The next few decades could pose
both political and military challenges to Nigeria.10 These challenges
are occasioned by the quest to have a permanent seat in the UN Security
Council, regional power posture and Nigeria’s frontline role in the
cooperation and integration of Africa. The unavoidable characteristics
of the environment in which the Nigerian Armed Forces could fight in the
future dictate that her forces should be structured to face such
challenges. Since globalization has united the world into one village,
the employment of the Nigerian Armed Forces will not be limited to the
West African arena alone. Today, internal conflicts within one state
are easily made international by global media coverage and many nations
are quickly drawn into them.11
The situation in the Nigerian Armed
Forces is that there has been scanty and uncoordinated acquisition of
modern platforms, weapons systems and equipment. Consequently, some of
those in the inventory are either becoming or are already obsolete.
Others have become degraded by long usage and poor maintenance.
Furthermore, strategies and processes for upgrading them are not clearly
defined due to lack of defined policies from the Ministry of Defence
(MOD). The situation is further compounded by the competition for
resources by other sectors of the economy in addition to the defence
sector.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In the Nigerian Armed Forces
today, the development of technology facilities is at a rudimentary
state. Thus, were the Nigerian military to witness for example, an
information warfare attack on its ICT facilities it would face severe
challenges. Equally worrisome is the dearth of modern platforms, weapons
systems, equipment and the absence of appropriate policies to address
the problem. The situation is further compounded by the paucity of funds
and a low level of national technological and industrial base.
The
Nigerian Armed Forces since its inception starting with the Nigerian
Army (NA) in 1883 has participated in both internal and external
operations in the fulfilment of its constitutional roles. However, the
degraded and obsolete status of the fighting equipment in its inventory
has affected its fighting capability. In view of the role of the
Nigerian Armed Forces to achieve the objectives of the National Defence
Policy, it would be important to discover how the Nigerian Armed Forces
could keep pace with trends in global RMA. It would also be important to
learn how the RMA can enhance combat effectiveness. This is what
generated the researcher’s interest in the study. It is against this
background, that the study seeks to answer the following questions:
a. What constitutes a RMA?
b. What is the relationship between the RMA and combat effectiveness?
c. What are the challenges for the Nigerian Armed Forces in achieving a RMA?
d.
What strategies and policies can be employed to achieve a RMA for the
Nigerian Armed Forces in order to enhance combat effectiveness?
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