In a move that echoes United States (US) President Donald Trump’s controversial push for a border wall, Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has called for the fencing of Nigeria’s land borders as a bold step toward boosting national security.
Speaking at a high-level security conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Musa said Nigeria must take decisive action to assert full control over its porous boundaries, which have long served as conduits for arms trafficking, insurgent movements, and transnational criminal activities.
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He warned that Nigeria’s perceived wealth makes it a target.
“It is Nigeria that everybody is interested in. That is why we need to secure fully and take control of our borders. It is critical for our survival and sovereignty,” Musa declared.
Nigeria shares borders with four countries, Niger Republic, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin, all of which are grappling with varying degrees of conflict and insecurity.
The longest border (1,975 km) is with Cameroon in the northeast, a Boko Haram hotspot. It also shares 1,500 km with Niger and 85 km with Chad, nations that have lost territory to armed groups.
The porous nature of these borders has been repeatedly blamed for Nigeria’s long-running battles with terrorism, banditry, and cross-border smuggling.
Mirroring a Trump Policy and Global Trend
Musa’s call is not without echoes of a global trend: physical barriers being deployed as a national security tool. Notably, Trump made border fencing a central pillar of his presidency, arguing that a wall on the US-Mexico border would curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
While the contexts differ—Nigeria’s concerns center on insurgents and security threats rather than migration—the rhetoric is familiar: a nation under threat, a border out of control, and a wall as the answer.
Trump’s wall proposal drew fierce criticism from civil rights groups, humanitarian organizations, and even some security experts who questioned its effectiveness. Musa’s comments may now spark a similar national debate in Nigeria.
The military chief cited examples from other parts of the world to support his position, referencing how Pakistan fenced its borders with Afghanistan and how Saudi Arabia fortified its border with Iraq to prevent terrorist infiltration.
“Other countries, because of the level of insecurity they have, had to fence their borders,” Musa said, arguing that Nigeria must follow suit in the face of increasing threats to its internal security.
According to security analysts, Nigeria’s long and largely unmonitored borders—stretching over 4,000 kilometers—are a weak link in its national defense strategy.
The situation is worsened by regional instability in the Sahel, with terrorist groups such as Boko Haram and ISWAP often exploiting these borders to launch attacks or find safe havens.
Cost, Feasibility, and Controversy Ahead
While Musa did not outline specific plans or costs, the prospect of fencing thousands of kilometers of land raises immediate questions about feasibility, funding, and potential humanitarian impacts, especially on border communities with family and trade ties across boundaries.
Human rights advocates warn that a border fence could disrupt livelihoods and cut off long-established social and economic networks.
Others argue that without addressing underlying drivers of insecurity—like poverty, poor governance, and weak intelligence—a fence might serve more as a symbol than a solution.
“Cameroon has more problems curbing entrance of armed groups from Nigeria than the other way round? But the solution is not fencing border, unrealistic anyway, but enhanced transborder coordination & collaboration in the fight against those groups!?” Phillippe Van Damme, a former EU Ambassador to Guinea (Conakry), wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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Still, Musa’s proposal marks a potentially significant shift in Nigeria’s border security thinking, one that could trigger legislative interest, budgetary debate, and even regional diplomacy, particularly with neighbors who might view the measure with suspicion.
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