Nigeria's army and police were the country's first national institutions, and both are ironically older than the country Although Nigerians are reluctant to admit it, the itself. story Nigeria is to some extent the story of its army. There are few countries where the country's fate and that of its army are as of tightly interwoven as Nigeria. For the first 102 years of its existence, Nigeria's army was under British command. At various points in time, the army has played different roles as conqueror, destroyer, ruler and protector of the country it is supposed to defend. Without it, Nigeria would not exist. Yet it has a com- plex history, including its role as a tool that helped foreign invaders conquer its own people