Posted by Samuel on Wed 15th Jan, 2025 - tori.ng
The 76-year-old veteran shared his concerns as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief during the 2025 Armed Forces Remembrance Day on Wednesday, January 15.
Col Nasiru Salami (retd), a civil war veteran,has voiced his disappointment over what he terms the inadequate treatment of Nigerian Army retirees by military authorities.
The 76-year-old veteran shared his concerns as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief during the 2025 Armed Forces Remembrance Day on Wednesday, January 15.
In a heartfelt narration, Salami detailed his journey in the military, starting from his enlistment into the Nigerian Army in October 1967. Just six weeks after joining, he was deployed straight to the battlefield during the Biafra war. Salami, who now serves as the Secretary of the Nigerian Legion, Lagos Chapter, said he spent 11 months on the battlefield during the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970.
Recounting his painful experiences, he revealed that he lost his right foot during the war, which led to its amputation. Despite the life-altering injury, he returned to the battlefield to continue fighting. Salami said he would not encourage any of his children to join the Nigerian Army due to his experience.
“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 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.