News Investigators/ Muhammed Ladan, an International Law Expert, has called for an urgent overhaul of Nigeria’s defence architecture to confront emerging threats in cyberspace and other domains.
Prof. Ladan, who is also the Coordinating Director, AfCFTA Law and Policy Programme Division, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, made the call on Thursday in Abuja while presenting a policy briefing at the Saban Media Services 2026 Policy Dialogue.
The dialogue, organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence, was themed: “Securing the Sovereign Frontier: Strategic Defence Architecture, Emerging Technologies and Democratic Integrity in Nigeria.”
He said Nigeria’s concept of sovereignty must extend beyond physical land borders and maritime territories to cyberspace, critical infrastructure and information ecosystems.
According to him, sovereignty is no longer exclusively contested on physical landmasses, maritime zones or isolated battlefields.
“It is actively fought, compromised and defended within digital ecosystems, telecommunications routing, cloud servers and global information pipelines,” he said.
Prof. Ladan said Nigeria must move away from isolated, single-service responses and integrate military operations with intelligence-sharing, legal frameworks and community-driven security mechanisms.
According to him, the changing security environment requires the Armed Forces and intelligence agencies to combine physical readiness with sophisticated technology-driven capabilities.
He identified artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial surveillance and secure communications as critical force multipliers for Nigeria’s defence architecture.
“Securing the nation depends heavily on leveraging indigenous innovation, artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial surveillance and secure communication hardware,” he said.
The professor also called for greater investment in Nigeria’s domestic defence industry to reduce dependence on foreign supply chains.
He said the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) Act 2023 provided a framework for stimulating indigenous defence manufacturing through public-private partnerships.
Ladan said Nigeria could leverage the framework to promote local production of unmanned aerial vehicles, biometric tracking systems and encrypted tactical communications equipment.
He also advocated a unified cyber-defence framework to protect critical national infrastructure and the country’s information ecosystem.
According to him, Nigeria’s National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy and Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Amendment Act 2024 provide a statutory foundation for strengthening national cyber-defence.
“Nigeria possesses the statutory foundation to build an integrated cyber-command.
“Such a command would enhance proactive threat hunting and Nigeria’s capacity to counter coordinated disinformation and state-sponsored cyber espionage,” he said.
Ladan also called for stronger inter-agency data sharing among the military, police and intelligence agencies.
He proposed the establishment of a centralised, AI-driven Joint Threat Intelligence Fusion Centre to break institutional silos and improve coordinated responses.
He said community-based early warning and early response mechanisms should complement formal security structures, particularly in vulnerable and conflict-affected communities.
Ladan said traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth organisations, farmers and local residents could provide valuable intelligence because of their knowledge of communities, terrain and emerging tensions.
He, however, stressed that community vigilante groups must not become parallel security forces, urging that they be properly screened, trained, regulated and integrated into the broader security framework.
He said insecurity should also be treated as an economic issue, noting that farmers unable to access their farms, children kept away from schools and businesses disrupted by violence weakened national resilience.
Ladan said emerging technologies must also be governed by appropriate legislation to balance national security with democratic rights and civil liberties.
“Emergency security measures, counter-disinformation campaigns and surveillance expansions must strictly respect civil liberties and constitutional safeguards,” he said.
Ladan said Nigeria’s constitutional obligation to protect citizens remained the foundation of its national security strategy.
He cited Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.
He said national security and democratic integrity should not be treated as competing objectives.
According to him, the protocol could help Nigeria develop secure digital infrastructure, dual-use technologies and indigenous technology capacity.
Ladan said Nigeria could leverage its digital and defence capabilities to strengthen both economic resilience and regional security leadership.
He called for a Civil-Military Technology Oversight Board comprising defence officials, human rights advocates and technology experts.
The proposed body, he said, would audit the procurement and deployment of surveillance technologies and ensure compliance with data privacy and constitutional safeguards.
On his part, Member representing Zangon Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency of Kaduna State, Amos Magaji, said national security must ultimately focus on protecting people and livelihoods.
Magaji said that security was not only about terrorism but about people, stressing that insecurity had destroyed communities, disrupted farming, businesses and education in his constituency.
He said community-based early warning and response mechanisms should complement formal security structures, while vigilante groups must be properly screened, trained, regulated and coordinated with security agencies.
According to him, community resilience is a security asset, urging stronger partnerships among traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth groups, local residents and security agencies.
He said Nigeria must move from a predominantly reactive security model to a preventive and resilience-based approach anchored on stronger intelligence, community surveillance, youth development and economic opportunities.
Magaji said insecurity should also be treated as an economic issue, noting that restoring peace must include restoring livelihoods, rebuilding communities and rebuilding trust.
“Weapons may stop an attack, but dialogue rebuilds relationships. Security operations may restore physical safety, but trust restores social stability,” he said.
NAN