ABUJA — Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Waidi Shaibu, held talks with French Defence Attaché Col. Stéphane Useo at Army Headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, as both sides moved to expand bilateral military cooperation amid persistent regional security threats.
According to reports of the meeting, Shaibu stressed that the Nigerian Army is prioritising continuous professional development across its corps and wants a long-term partnership with France focused on capacity building, advanced training, intelligence sharing and operational effectiveness.
The engagement comes as Nigeria continues to battle multiple security fronts—including jihadist insurgency in the northeast, armed banditry in the northwest, and wider transnational threats across the Sahel corridor—where international military coordination has become increasingly important.
Useo reportedly praised Nigerian forces for recent operational resilience and advocated broader access for Nigerian officers to strategic professional courses, including in public relations and aviation. He also highlighted the role of civil-military communication training as part of modern force readiness.
Both officials framed the France–Nigeria relationship as mutually reinforcing: Nigeria gains technical and training support, while France strengthens security partnerships in a region facing militant mobility, illicit trafficking networks and political instability.
The Abuja meeting also signals continuity under Nigeria’s current military leadership structure, following the October 2025 reshuffle that appointed Shaibu as army chief in a broader federal attempt to recalibrate counterterror operations.
While no new joint operation was publicly announced, defence observers say this type of high-level contact typically precedes expanded training exchanges, intelligence protocols, and doctrine coordination—especially on border security, information operations, and rapid-response capabilities. Based on the statements released after the meeting, both sides appear to be positioning 2026 as a year of deeper, more institutionalised defence collaboration.
