A retired civil war veteran, Colonel Nasiru Salami, has voiced his concerns about the poor treatment of Nigerian Army retirees.
The 76-year-old spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s “The Morning Brief” to mark the 2025 Armed Forces’ Remembrance Day.
Col. Salami shared his journey, starting from his enlistment in October 1967, to being sent to the Biafra war after only six weeks of training. He served on the battlefield for 11 months during the civil war from 1967 to 1970.
He recalled losing his right foot in the war, which led to an amputation, but he continued to fight afterward.
Now serving as the Secretary of the Nigerian Legion, Lagos Chapter, Salami expressed his reluctance to allow his children to join the Nigerian Army.
“I will never recommend any of my children to join the Nigerian Army. 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,” he said.
Salami revealed that the Nigerian Legion in Lagos has over 24,000 members, and many, including himself, have not received war bonuses or pensions promised over 50 years ago.
“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 added.
