<P> Since its creation the Nigerian military has fought in a civil war--the conflict with Biafra in 1967--70--and sent peacekeeping forces abroad both with the United Nations and as the backbone of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Cease - fire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) in Liberia and Sierra Leone . It has also seized power twice at home (1966 & 1983). </P> <P> In the aftermath of the civil war, the much expanded size of the military, around 250,000 in 1977, consumed a large part of Nigeria's resources under military rule for little productive return . The great expansion of the military during the civil war further entrenched the existing military hold on Nigerian society carried over from the first military regime . In doing so, it played an appreciable part in reinforcing the military's nearly first - among - equals status within Nigerian society, and the linked decline in military effectiveness . Olusegun Obasanjo, who by 1999 had become President, bemoaned the fact in his inaugural address that year:'...Professionalism has been lost...my heart bleeds to see the degradation in the proficiency of the military .' </P> <P> Training establishments in Nigeria include the prestigious officer entry Nigerian Defence Academy at Kaduna, the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, and the National War College at Abuja . The U.S. commercial military contractor Military Professional Resources Inc. has been involved from around 1999--2000 in advising on civil - military relations for the armed forces . </P> <P> The roles of a country's armed forces are entrenched in her Constitution . The defence of the territorial integrity and other core interests of the nation form the major substance of such roles . Section 217 - 220 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria addresses the Nigerian Armed Forces: </P>

Nigerian military is a good example of which organisation