Colonel Nasiru Salami (retd), a civil war veteran, has expressed his deep dissatisfaction with what he described as the inadequate treatment of retired Nigerian Army personnel by military authorities.
The 76-year-old veteran appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, in commemoration of the 2025 Armed Forces Remembrance Day.
Salami shared an emotional account of his military journey, beginning with his enlistment into the Nigerian Army in October 1967, and his immediate deployment to the Biafra war just six weeks after his training.
Now serving as the Secretary of the Nigerian Legion, Lagos Chapter, Salami recalled spending 11 months on the battlefield during the Civil War between 1967 and 1970.
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He spoke movingly about the painful loss of his right foot during the war, which led to its amputation.
More than 50 years later, Salami lamented that neither he nor other surviving veterans had received their promised war bonuses.
He also highlighted his ongoing struggles with unpaid pensions and other post-retirement entitlements.
Salami said he won’t encourage any of his children to join 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 to be 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’.”
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