Col Nasiru Salami (retd), a 76-year-old Civil war veteran, has vowed not to allow his children join the Nigerian Army.

Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Salami expressed disappointment over the poor treatment of retirees by military authorities.

He shared his concerns as a guest during the 2025 Armed Forces Remembrance Day on Wednesday, January 15.

Salami detailed his journey in the military, starting from his enlistment into the Nigerian Army in October 1967.

Recounting his painful experiences, he revealed that he injured his right foot during the war, he said, “For now, I will never recommend any of my children to join the Nigerian Army. 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 disclosed that the Nigerian Legion in Lagos has over 24,000 members and lamented that the government had yet to pay him and other civil war survivors their war bonuses, more than 50 years after the conflict.

He also raised concerns about his unpaid pension and other post-retirement benefits.

“We are asking for a 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, calling on the government to fulfill its promises and improve the welfare of veterans like himself.”
Retired military personnel on Tuesday barricaded the entrance to the Ministry of Finance in Abuja with canopies and chairs, demanding the full payment of their long-overdue entitlements.

Last week, Daily Trust had reported how military veterans blocked the Ministry of Finance in Abuja over unpaid entitlements.

The protest followed a similar action in December, during which the retirees shut down the ministry over the government’s failure to settle their claims.

For months, the retirees were told there were no funds to clear their entitlements, despite an official approval for payment. They are owed a 20% to 28% salary increment covering January to November 2024.

The retirees demanded payments for other outstanding benefits, including Palliatives for the period between October 2023 and November 2024, an additional N32,000 added to their pensions, a bulk payment of the Security Debarment Allowance, and a refund of pension deductions from the salaries of medically boarded soldiers.

In response to their December protests, the Federal Government paid 50% of the owed entitlements and promised to settle the balance.

However, the retirees claim the government failed to fulfill its promise, prompting the resumption of their protests.

At the ministry in Abuja, the retirees erected canopies and placed chairs to block the gate, effectively preventing staff from driving into the premises, and forcing many to park their vehicles outside.