The fact that as many as 5,000 Nigerian troops fought in Angola around 1976-77 may be the most widely-unknown fact in the annals of Nigeria’s very long history of foreign military operations.
In the aftermath of January 1976 OAU summit where General Murtala Muhammed in his timeless “AFRICA HAS COME OF AGE” outing decisively swung the support of the OAU and Africa in favour of the MPLA regime, to the chagrin of their UNITA and FNLA competitors, the FMG backed up the new MPLA government with N13.5m(US$20m) and sent a squadron of MiG-17 jet fighters in support.
It has now emerged that as many as 5,000 Nigerian troops were deployed to Angola and that they saw action in various theatres across the then war-blighted country.
Writing in an article entitled “MOSCOW’S NEXT TARGET IN AFRICA;Paying the Price for Angola“, Robert Moss clearly indicates that ….
QUOTE:
“The Nigerians are said to be heavily involved in Angola. Western intelligence sources report that Nigerian troops were present at battalion strength when the MPLA and the Cubans pushed south last year. According to UNITA sources in Paris, the Nigerian strength has since been reinforced.
UNITA sources have tapes of radio intercepts showing that at least 5,000 Nigerian troops have been deployed in Angola. They are operating as far south as Mocamedes, and are also based in Lobito, Luanda and the eastern diamond mining town of Henrique de Carvalho.
UNITA claims to have intercepted radio communications in English (the common language between the Nigerians, the Cubans and the MPLA), in the Ibo, Hausa and Yoruba dialects, and in a form of pidgin Creole…..An intriguing sidelight is that UNITA also claims that a British shipping line played a key role in ferrying Nigerian troops and military supplies to Angola.
Nigeria, rich in oil and boasting an army of some 210,000 men, can clearly afford to be more than rhetorical in its backing for the guerrilla movements of southern Africa.” END OF QUOTE
Corroborating this report, the world-renowned photo-agency GETTY IMAGES in an archival photo dated 1 January 1977 actually bears a caption which read as follows;
QUOTE:
“Caption: 1977: An Angolan soldier crawls beneath barbed wire trenches during training. Dr Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA movement is doing well in its fight against the ruling MPLA (Movement For The Liberation Of Angola), and its Cuban allies. UNITA claims to control at least half of Angola. In addition to the Cuban forces, Western intelligence sources report that at least 5000 Nigerian troops are also deployed in Angola, on the side of the MPLA. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). Date created: 01 Jan 1977 “. END OF QUOTE
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Beegeagle's Blog 
One word WOW !!!
Am a great fan of the nigerian armed forces especially the airforces.but i want to know whether the nigerian airforces pilots actually fly their planes or the merceneries do it for them.
The ONLY time EVER that the Nigerian Air Force had to rely on foreign pilots was during the first 12 months of the Civil War. Before August 1967, the NAF did not own a single combat jet but the exigencies of war saw them acquiring a total of 51 jets within the first year of the war. Whilst Nigerian pilots were being put through their paces, foreign pilots filled in the gap. By the end of 1968, Nigerian pilots had largely taken over control of combat operations and it has remained so ever since.
There ARE NO MERCENARY pilots in the NAF. Do well to ignore secessionist propaganda.
oga beeg, the article in wikipedia on cuban intervention in angola, quoted that eight mig
pilots came in from russia and eight migs were to be sent to angola from nigeria. also if you read joseph garba biography. he quoted a transcript of a meeting btw Obasanjo and the angolan side where he promised to send in 3 second hand c130 for transport. i am very sure that during this period nigerian jets or jets donated by nigeria must have being commited to the hands of russian merceneries due to our non interventive stance at that time.
This was South African propaganda. It is highly unlikely that Nigerian troops could have served in such numbers in Angola and it have been kept quiet. Why would the Na be sending signals in Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa? The MPLA spoke Portuguese and the Cubans Spanish. It would have been a nightmare to try and coordinate, much less moving a squadron of aircraft.
In that period the Afrikaners were trying to portray themselves as the last bastion of ‘Christian democracy’ facing a black horde of African nations supported by the communists. There are many books, articles and even feature films produced and sponsored by the South African Bureau of State Security (BOSS) that they used to try and support their position
This item has been picked up and now features on a mainly US blog site on COIN, Small Wars Council: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=14406
Not convinced the original cited sources are enough to prove that Nigeria had 5k troops in Angola in 1977.