According to a report by NTA, on Tuesday May 19, 2026, Nigeria former Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), retired General Lucky Irabor, has dismissed public misconceptions regarding the number of generals in the nation’s military, explaining that the growth of top-ranking officers is a direct reflection of the country’s expanded security architecture.
The retired defense chief addressed a common public grievance that the military has become top-heavy.
He clarified how military ranks actually work and compared the growth of the armed forces to Nigeria’s historical evolution from regions to 36 states.
Gen. Irabor began by correcting a major linguistic misunderstanding among civilian observers, pointing out that while many officers hold general titles, the apex rank is strictly held by one individual.
“First and foremost, today there’s only one general in the armed forces. Only one. That general is the chief of defense staff (CDS). But you also have three lieutenant generals and equivalents who are the service chiefs. Then you have major generals. They have brigadier generals. So let us get it right,” Irabor explained.
He noted that the public often aggregates everyone in the senior command structure under a single umbrella term.
“So when people people talk about when they say general all right they’re talking about those in the general rank which is from brigadier general and equivalent and above.”
Addressing the reality of today’s military footprint, Irabor noted that the scale of the institution has fundamentally changed since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 to meet the country’s skyrocketing security demands.
“Then you also get to know that the Nigerian army of 1999 is no longer when I say Nigerian army I’m using as as a generic for the armed forces. All right. So 1999 is not that of 2026 there has been an expansion. Why is that expansion? That expansion is again occasion by you know the need,” Irabor stated.
To illustrate this structural growth, he pointed out the doubling of major operational commands within the army.
“So when you see for take for example Nigerian army you used to have only four divisions. Today there are seven divisions if not I mean eight divisions. Of course, if you have them, the the money must correspond.”
To help civilians understand why an expanding institution naturally requires more senior leadership, Irabor drew a direct historical parallel to how Nigeria’s political geography grew from three colonial regions into the current state structure.
“Just the same way Nigeria at some point had only three regions. From three regions, it became four regions. From four regions, we had12 states. From 12 states became 19 state. From 19 state became 20 23 I be 26. And today we have 36. So it’s all relativity. It’s relativity,” Irabor argued.
According to Irabor, much of the criticism directed at the number of senior officers stems from a generalized public frustration with national institutions rather than an understanding of operational realities.
“So let people I know that the confusion that we have had is that um you know there are a lot of um a lot of angst as it were against establishments,” he concluded…See More
