The Nigerian Defence Headquarters (DHQ) is the principal headquarters of the

Nigerian Armed Forces The Nigerian Armed Forces (NAF) are the Military, military forces of Nigeria. The forces consist of three service branches: the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and Nigerian Air Force. The President of Nigeria functions as the commander-in-chief of ...

. It is situated within the Armed Forces Complex, a sprawling military facility along the Muhammadu Buhari Way in Garki District of

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

, which also houses the headquarters of the

Nigerian Army The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the largest component of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The President of Nigeria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Army, and its professional head is the Chie ...

, the

Nigerian Air Force The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) is the air branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is the youngest branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces, established four years after the nation became independent. As at 2021, the air force is one of the largest in A ...

and, the

Nigerian Navy The Nigerian Navy (NN) is the Navy, naval branch of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Nigerian armed forces. With more than 70 warships, it is categorised as the fourth strongest navy in Africa (after South Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco). It is co ...

. The DHQ is responsible for deployment, sustenance and recovery of forces deployed externally or within the country. The DHQ is mandated to drive synergy among the tri-service of the

History

Nigeria operated a variant of the Pakistani Joint Staff Headquarters and the American

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

structure. In the constitution that came after the

1979 Nigerian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Nigeria for the first time on 11 August 1979. The result was a victory for Shehu Shagari, whose National Party of Nigeria had won the 1979 Nigerian legislative election, parliamentary elections in July. Resul ...

the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) was established to enable the CDS carry out his duties. It was abolished by the Buhari regime in 1983. The DHQ was reestablished and changed in 1985 to Joint Headquarters (JHQ) with the creation of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In September 1990, the nomenclature reverted to the DHQ.

Structure

The DHQ is structured into nine departments:
1. Department of Defence Policy and Plans (DDPP)
2. Department of Defence Training and Operations DDTO)
3. Department of Defence Administration (DDA)
4. Department of Defence Communications (DDC)
5. Department of Defence Logistics (DDL)
6. Department of Defence Standards and Evaluation (DDSE)
7. Department of Defence Transformation and Innovation (DDTI)
8. Department of Defence Accounts and Budgets (DDAB)
9. Department of Defence Civil-Military Relations (DDCMR)

Components

The Defence Headquarters is made up of the following components:
*

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

* Defence Intelligence Agency * Defence Space Administration * National Defence College *

Nigerian Defence Academy The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) is a military university based in Kaduna, Nigeria, that trains officer cadets for commissioning into one of the three services of the Nigerian Armed Forces: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The duration ...

* Armed Forces Command and Staff College *

Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) is the state-run defence corporation of Nigeria and operated by the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is responsible for the production of defence equipment and civilian products. History DICON was establi ...

*Multinational Joint Task Force *Defence Health Maintenance Limited *Military Pension Board *Defence and Police Officers Wives Association

Operations

It conducts joint cooperation ventures with

TRADOC The United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is a major command of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia. It is charged with overseeing training of Army forces and the development of operational doctrine. ...

References

{{Reflist Military of Nigeria Joint military headquarters Military units and formations of Nigeria Military units and formations established in 1918 1991 establishments in Nigeria