Nigeria drops in military ranking, US maintains lead
The Nigerian military has dropped three places in the latest global military ranking.
The ranking, published by Global Firepower, placed the Armed Forces of Nigeria at 39th out of a total of 145 countries reviewed for 2024.
This marks a decline from its 36th position in the 2023 ranking and 35th position in 2022.
This two-year consecutive drop comes despite the acquisition of fighter jets and other combat enablers, as well as the military’s claimed successes against terrorists in Nigeria over the same period.
Nigeria also dropped from third to fourth position among African countries.
For the 18th consecutive year, the United States retained its position as the top-ranked military globally.
According to GFP, the United States showcases “commanding values in many major material, financial, and resource categories.”
The USA is followed by Russia, China, and India, ranked second, third, and fourth, respectively.
South Korea is ranked fifth, followed by the United Kingdom (6th), Japan (7th), Turkey (8th), Pakistan (9th), and Italy (10th). The top 15 is completed by France (11th), Brazil (12th), Indonesia (13th), Iran (14th), and Egypt (15th).
Australia, Israel, Ukraine, Germany, and Spain hold the 16th to 20th positions, respectively.
In Africa, Egypt is ranked first, followed by Algeria, South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Angola, Morocco, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tunisia, and Sudan, in that order.
According to the report, over 60 factors were considered in determining the scores given to countries.
“The finalised Global Firepower ranking below utilises over 60 individual factors to determine a given nation’s PowerIndex (‘PwrIndx’) score, with categories ranging from the quantity of military units and financial standing to logistical capabilities and geography,” the GFP report stated.
“Our unique, in-house formula allows smaller, more technologically advanced nations to compete with larger, less-developed powers. Special modifiers, in the form of bonuses and penalties, are applied to further refine the list, which is compiled annually.
“For 2024, Nigeria is ranked 39th out of the 145 countries considered for the annual GFP review. The nation holds a PwrIndx* score of 0.5619 (a score of 0.0000 is considered ‘perfect’). This entry was last reviewed on 01/09/2024.”
“PwrIndx: Each nation is assessed on individual and collective values processed through an in-house formula to generate its ‘PwrIndx’ (Power Index) score. Some values are estimated when official numbers are unavailable,” it added.
When contacted, the Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Tukur, Gusau said, “I am not aware of the ranking and I can’t comment on it.”
