WorldStage– President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a new Nigerian Army training depot in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, creating a third major recruit training facility in the country.
The new depot complements the long-standing Nigerian Army Depot in Zaria, Kaduna State, and the recently approved facility in Osogbo, Osun State, marking a deliberate shift toward more decentralized and regionally balanced military training to respond to Nigeria’s evolving security challenges.
The approval was disclosed by the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, during the passing-out parade of 3,439 newly trained recruits at the Zaria depot.
According to the Army leadership, expanding the training infrastructure is essential to sustaining manpower growth and ensuring the military can respond effectively to multiple security threats across the federation.
Strategically, the Abakaliki depot is designed to strengthen the Army’s recruitment and training capacity, with a focus on core competencies such as marksmanship, fieldcraft, discipline, and basic combat skills.
The facility forms part of broader efforts to modernize Nigeria’s defense architecture and is expected to become operational in the near term, helping to guarantee a steady pipeline of well-trained personnel for nationwide deployment.
In terms of regional spread, the Zaria depot continues to serve as the primary northern training hub, consistently producing large intakes of recruits.
The Osogbo facility, located in the Southwest, was approved to enhance operational responsiveness in the southern corridor.
The newly approved Abakaliki depot in the Southeast completes a more balanced geographic distribution, improving training efficiency and national coverage.
Overall, the expansion underscores the Tinubu administration’s commitment to strengthening military readiness, improving manpower sustainability, and reinforcing Nigeria’s security architecture across all geopolitical zones.
