Nigerian Army Sends Message To South-East Youths Who Allegedly Shun Recruitment Exercises

The Nigerian Army has urged youths in Abia State and other South-East states to answer the national call to service by enlisting in the army and serving the country.

The call was made in Umuahia on Thursday during the first edition of an awareness campaign organized by the department of Civil-Military Affairs, Nigerian Army for youths, traditional rulers and other civil society groups.

The guest speaker at the programme, Maj Gen Gold Chibuisi (Rtd) who delivered a lecture, encouraged the youths of the South-East to stop shunning the Army service but to embrace career opportunities in the Army in fields of medicine, law, engineering and other areas.

He downplayed the fears about profiling of Igbo soldiers and dismissed the stories that junior soldiers from particular parts of the country were usually selected and sent to fight dangerous war fronts.

Gen. Chibuisi assured the South-East youths that their promotion and welfare would not be denied, and urged parents to allow their children to enroll into the force.

Also speaking, Maj. Gen Chukwunedum Abraham (Rtd) said the figure from the last Army recruitment in Nigeria showed that Imo State recorded only 671 applicants while 428 persons from Ebonyi State applied, lamenting that the figures were very low when compared to other geo-political zones.

The Chief of Civil-Military Affairs, Nigerian Army, Maj.Gen Musa Awwal Etsu-Ndagi in his summary, said the programme was put together to sensitise the youths and opinion leaders about opportunities in the Nigerian Army and to address any misconception about the force.

In his speech, Abia State Governor, Alex Otti reiterated his call on Abia youths to enroll into the Nigerian Army, saying that the State should not be counted among the lowest in Army and other military enrolment figures

He expressed worry that Army recruitment forms that came to Abia State in the past few years recorded low applications, but assured that his administration would ride on the back of the maiden edition awareness campaign to change the narrative.