
— SOLDIER FIRST AGENDA SAYS COAS
On 24 December 2025, the Army Chief performed the groundbreaking for Phase II of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Barracks. The project is distinct from Phase I, commissioned by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, on 23 January 2025 and designed to accommodate 614 personnel.
Phase II is a new barracks development, projected to house about 1,800 personnel and their families. It is the largest single housing intervention of its kind in the capital under the current Army leadership and a direct response to a long-standing accommodation deficit.
COAS Shaibu has described the project as a shift from short-term repairs to durable housing. At the flag-off, he thanked the President for funding and political support, and linked the barracks to operational readiness. Decent, secure accommodation, he argued, strengthens morale, family stability and unit cohesion.
As operations evolve and troops return from the field, the new barracks is intended to receive them with dignity rather than uncertainty.
1.000 HOUSING UNITS
The housing drive is wider than one site. Shaibu has ordered the completion of ongoing residential projects nationwide, approved two 30-family blocks in each Army division as an interim measure, and continued renovation of existing barracks. Welfare, in his formulation, also includes healthcare, education, insurance, family support and post-service housing. Phase II is therefore not an isolated construction site; it is a visible pillar of a broader “Soldier First” agenda.
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For the Nigerian Army, barracks are infrastructure as well as welfare. A force that is properly housed is better placed to maintain discipline, readiness and cohesion. Phase II of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Barracks is an investment in that infrastructure and in the families who stand behind every deployment.
The project’s meaning is captured in a single line that now defines the effort: building homes for those who defend the nation. Under Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, that line is being written in brick and mortar in Abuja on PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, GCFR.

