Roles for SOF in a Staggering Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria is an oil-rich but staggering democracy that has become increasingly important to U.S. strategic interests. The U.S. imports more than 10% of its oil from Nigeria, which holds critical reserves of oil and natural gas. Nigeria is a key partner in the struggle with Islamic extremism in the Sahel region and shares common interest with the U.S. in achieving security in the Gulf of Guinea to secure foreign trade and investment opportunities in Africa. However, Nigeria's persistent internal trends had a negative impact on its development and could even set ablaze the whole area in the near future if not dealt with properly. Based on a problem/solution methodology relying primarily on library research and readings from the online Nigerian press, this paper contends that U.S. Special Forces can help achieve the strategic goal of helping Nigeria become a stable regional power in Western Africa. It identifies the critical factors that characterize the environment in which SOF will have to operate in Nigeria, and explains why U.S. SOF is well suited for this job. It recommends four lines of operations that directly address Nigeria's critical issues. U.S. SOF must primarily enhance a strong PRT-like interagency cooperation in the Nigeria's northern states to address specifically their overwhelming poverty. It must work at mitigating religious tensions and countering insurgencies by actively expanding and implementing psychological operations all over the country. They must conduct foreign internal defense missions in the southern states to improve the skills of the Nigerian armed forces in fighting insurgencies and ensuring basic maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. Lastly, U.S. SOF must enhance Nigeria's regional leadership by fostering cooperation with neighboring countries through the creation of several Nigeria-led regional military schools.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2009
Accession Number
ADA539705

Entities

People

  • Olivier Brault

Organizations

  • Air Command and Staff College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Commerce
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Department Of State
  • Employment
  • Ethnic Groups
  • International Trade
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Psychological Operations
  • Societies
  • Students
  • Terrorism
  • United States Africa Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • International Relations, focusing on Korea-Africa and North Korea-South Korea relations, and Nigeria-Latin American Relations.
  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.