My Children Will Never Join Nigerian Army – Retired Colonel Declares, Explains Why

A retired civil war veteran, Colonel Nasiru Salami, has expressed his concerns regarding the inadequate treatment of retired personnel from the Nigerian Army by military leadership.

The 76-year-old veteran appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief program in commemoration of the 2025 Armed Forces’ Remembrance Day on Wednesday.

In a poignant account, Salami detailed his military journey, beginning with his enlistment in the Nigerian Army in October 1967, followed by his immediate deployment to the battlefield for the Biafra war just six weeks after his training.

Currently serving as the Secretary of the Nigerian Legion, Lagos Chapter, Salami shared that he spent 11 months on the front lines during the civil war from 1967 to 1970.

Naijaonpoint reports that the septuagenarian recounted the harrowing experience of losing his right foot during the conflict, which necessitated amputation, yet he returned to the front lines to continue fighting.

Salami stated that he would not advise any of his children to pursue a career in the Nigerian Army, asserting, “At this moment, I cannot recommend that any of my children join the Nigerian Army.”

Salami, who said two of his children are now graduates, noted: “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 said the Nigerian Legion in Lagos has over 24,000 members and that the Nigerian government was yet to pay him and his civil war survivors war bonuses over 50 years later.

He expressed his disappointment about his unpaid pension and other post-retirement packages.

“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,” the war veteran said, appealing to the government to do the needful and improve the welfare of him and his colleagues.