Military Aid to Civil Authorities in Nigeria: Appraisal of Armed Forces of Nigeria Response to the Outbreak of COVID-19

December 2019 ushered in the outbreak of a deadly disease called the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Province of Wuhan, China. Following its spread to other neighbouring countries and other regions across the globe with devastating impact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the disease a pandemic. Various efforts were put in place by governments, organisations and institutions across the globe to combat the spread of this pandemic. The outbreak of the disease in Nigeria was marked by responses from various apparatus of government and non- governmental organisation. The Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) in addition to its constitutional responsibilities in defence of the nation’s integrity and sovereignty played major roles in curtailing the challenges occasioned by the outbreak of the disease, which is also inline with its constitutional mandate in giving aid to civil authorities. This paper analyses the role of the AFN in the management of the COVID-19 Pandemic by relying on both primary and secondary sources. Focus of this research is on the approach adopted by the Nigerian Military in the fight against COVID-19 and its impact, through a predominantly non-kinetic Military Assistance to Civil Authorities (MACA) framework, complementing the Federal Government efforts to contain the spread of the virus and mitigate its socio-economic consequences. The findings revealed that the AFN made interventions in the 6 geo-political zones of the country majorly in upgrading and making its hospitals as isolation centres for treatment of patients, manufacture of ventilators and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), enforcement of lockdowns, as well as provision of palliatives to its host communities.  This paper concludes that the AFN involvement in the management of COVID-19 greatly curtailed the spread of the disease, despite having no previous experience in handling such an issue.