As Nigeria celebrates her servicemen who were lost on the battlefield, retired personnel have accused the army of negligence.
A civil war veteran, Colonel Nasiru Salami (rtd), expressed dissatisfaction with how military leadership has treated Nigerian Army retirees over the years while speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday to commemorate 2025 Armed Forces’ Remembrance Day.
Salami, who currently serves as the Lagos Chapter Secretary of the Nigerian Legion, claimed to have spent 11 months fighting in the 1967–1970 civil war where he almost lost his right foot which was replaced with a plastic, however, he went back to the war front even as a wounded soldier
Salami said he would not support any of his kids to enlist in the Nigerian Army.
“For now, I will never recommend any of my children to join the Nigerian Army,” he said.
“I am their father and they are seeing me now that my life is not to their expectation. They would want me to be higher than this, full of joy and other things that would make them happy. How would I now encourage them to join the army?
“I have two graduates now and I said to them: ‘Never you think of going to join the army. If you want to join, maybe the Navy or the Air Force. I’ve not been there but I’ve been seeing them and I’ve been hearing about them because they are treated better.”
Salami stated that the Nigerian Legion in Lagos has over 24,000 members and that the government has failed to pay him and his civil war survivors war bonuses 50 years later.
He also grumbled about unpaid pension and post-retirement benefits.
“We are asking for war bonus, those of us who fought the war. I retired in December 1983 and they promised us heaven and earth that they would give us our war bonus but up till now, we have not seen it,” he said, appealing to the government to do the needful and improve the welfare of him and his colleagues.
Another retiree who identified as Col. Oluyemi Oyekola (rtd) expressed her grievances towards the Nigerian Army, stating that she served in the military for 35 years but the remuneration given to ex-servicemen can barely cater to their needs.
While recounting her experience after service, Oluyemi said she has been unable to get a house and pay her shop rent since she retired in 2007. She included that life has been unbalanced as the trend she met upon retirement out was high.
“Things are not equal for us when we get out of the service in order to continue from where we started from.
“Since 2008, I’ve not been able to meet up with the 30m the mall requested as the shop rent.
“If not for the housing scheme, some of us wouldn’t have a house today, like me I don’t even have a house.
“The First Lady has tried her best, she gave money to the old veterans but some of did not even get it, we do not even know those who benefited, it was not open,” Oluyemi cried out.