Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, says instability in the Lake Chad Basin, the Sahel region and the Gulf of Guinea is worsening Nigeria’s security situation. Speaking at the Nigerian Army Day Celebration 2026 lecture, the army chief warns that security developments in neighbouring regions continue to feed into domestic threats. He argues that Nigeria’s evolving security challenges require new and “innovative” approaches rather than relying only on existing methods. According to the reports, Oluyede connects regional instability to the broader spread of insecurity affecting Nigeria, emphasizing the cross-border nature of the threats. The remarks are presented as a call for strategies that can adapt to changing conditions across the affected areas, including the Lake Chad Basin, where militant activity and instability have long been reported, and the Sahel and Gulf of Guinea, which are also widely cited in regional security assessments. The sources agree that the COAS frames the issue as a regional problem with local consequences, and links it to the need for updated counter-threat measures.