The Nigerian Army on August 15 laid the foundation of its new Special Forces School (NASFS) in Doma, Nasarawa State — a project the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, described as central to the military’s future battles.
“This is about building unconquerable warriors, capable of dominating the battlefield in all its complexity,” Oluyede said, presenting the initiative as a decisive response to insurgency, banditry and terrorism that have stretched Nigeria’s security forces for more than a decade.
Adapting to unconventional wars
From Boko Haram attacks in the Northeast to kidnappings and banditry across the Northwest and Middle Belt, Nigeria has struggled against adversaries who operate from forests and hide within communities. The Army chief said NASFS was designed to give troops the skills to survive ambushes, dismantle terror cells and conduct rapid, surgical strikes.
Strategic relocation
The school’s relocation from Buni Yadi in Yobe State — now an acclimatisation centre for soldiers bound for the Northeast — to Doma underscores its new mission. Nasarawa offers centrality, access, and terrain suited to special forces training. Governor Abdullahi Sule, welcoming the project, warned that without security, the state’s farming and mining economies would collapse.
Forging Nigeria’s own elite unit
Oluyede said the school was aimed at producing fighters comparable to America’s Navy SEALs, Britain’s SAS or Russia’s Spetsnaz — soldiers trained to endure exhaustion, hunger and extreme conditions yet still fight with precision. “This school is not just about today. It is about tomorrow,” he said.
Between promise and challenge
Alongside the foundation stone, the Army commissioned four Special Forces Command headquarters and a new officers’ mess. But analysts caution that training alone will not suffice without sustained investment in technology, weaponry and intelligence. Without funding and insulation from politics, they warn, NASFS risks becoming another stalled project.
A covenant with citizens
For Oluyede, the school symbolises more than military ambition. He framed it as a covenant: farmers returning to fields, children walking to school in safety, traders reclaiming roads once held by gunmen. Planting a tree at the site, he said, was a metaphor for growth and resilience.
The message from Doma was stark: Nigerians are weary of fear, soldiers weary of burying their comrades. The Army, through NASFS, is betting that by training a new generation of fighters, the country can reclaim its security.
