DistantNews
Support us
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Conflict & Security

New Book Says Army Adopts Mission Command to Counter Insecurity

From ThisDay · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • A book launched in Abuja examines Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu’s use of mission command to address insecurity in Nigeria.
  • Its authors say the approach gives field commanders clear objectives and freedom to act, improving morale, operational speed and civil-military relations.
  • The book aims to preserve military leadership lessons and provide a framework for policymakers, scholars and cadets.

A new book presented in Abuja portrays Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu’s adoption of mission command as a turning point for Nigeria’s military leadership. The strategy gives commanders clear objectives while allowing them to take initiative on the ground.

This is not just documentation of events. It is rigorous scholarship with deep operational insight, preserving leadership lessons for future generations.

· Dr. AK Etta PetersLead author describing the purpose and scholarly value of the book.

Titled “The Shaibu Doctrine: Mission Command and the Remaking of Nigeria’s Army at War,” the book examines how the army is responding to insecurity. Lead author Dr. AK Etta Peters said the publication was intended to open a national discussion about military leadership, doctrine and the future of the Nigerian Armed Forces.

“This is not just documentation of events. It is rigorous scholarship with deep operational insight, preserving leadership lessons for future generations,” Peters said. He described the book as a tribute to leadership in action and said the doctrine had made the army “more adaptive, more professional, and more connected to the people it serves.”

The gains we are recording are not by accident. They are the product of doctrine, discipline, and decisive leadership. Firepower alone will not win this war. We need ideas. We need doctrine. We need to institutionalize the lessons we are learning.

· Dr. AK Etta PetersPeters explaining what he said had driven progress against insurgency.

The authors attributed improved troop morale, faster operations, better civil-military relations and gains against insurgency to the approach. “The gains we are recording are not by accident. They are the product of doctrine, discipline, and decisive leadership. Firepower alone will not win this war. We need ideas. We need doctrine. We need to institutionalize the lessons we are learning,” Peters said.

Put the men on the ground, tell them what to do, and they know how to get it done.

· Dr. M.S. AbubakarThe co-author explaining the practical principle behind mission command.

Co-author Dr. M.S. Abubakar said Nigeria had faced insurgency since 2009 and that Shaibu’s approach represented a clear break with earlier methods. He called the conflict asymmetric warfare, in which enemies live within communities, and said mission command was better suited to that challenge. The book, co-authored by Dr. Sunday Adejoh of the Nigerian Defence Academy, aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Tinubu wrote its foreword.

This is turning around the story. The Nigerian Army has regained ground and we are winning the war more rapidly.

· Dr. M.S. AbubakarAbubakar assessing the reported effect of the approach.
About this summary

Originally published by ThisDay in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog