The Senate Majority Chief Whip and former Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Army, Senator Ali Ndume, has raised concerns about the meagre salaries received by recruits in security agencies.
According to him, some are paid less than N50,000 monthly, an amount he said was barely enough to buy a single bag of rice.
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Speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today, on Tuesday, Ndume urged the Federal Government to promptly reassess stipends and salaries for serving military personnel.
The lawmaker, who expressed dismay at the situation, questioned the logic of compensating individuals with an amount insufficient to purchase a bag of rice while expecting them to make significant sacrifices.
He noted specific instances where Nigerian Army personnel, stationed in challenging theatres like Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, receive minimal allowances, posing financial strain on their families.
He said, “The recruits are paid less than N50,000 in some cases. How can you pay somebody money that cannot buy him a bag of rice and you expect him to go and sacrifice and put in his best?
“How can you pay a Nigerian Army, for example, an allowance of N1,200 as his daily money and pay him N2000 only as Duty Tour Allowance (DTA) and put him in the theatre? Some from Lagos, Oyo, and Ondo moved to Maiduguri.
“Their parents are expecting that they will send them something monthly and you pay the guy N50,000 or less. These are the major challenges that the government must rise to.”
According to the lawmaker, the salaries of security operatives in the country were last reviewed over 15 years ago.
Decrying the situation, Ndume urged the federal government to immediately review and increase salaries for security agencies.
Furthermore, he called for increased recruitment to address the manpower deficit in the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Army.
Beyond salary adjustments and recruitment efforts, Ndume appealed to President Bola Tinubu’s administration to prioritise the acquisition of adequate equipment for the military, noting that it is crucial to effectively address the nation’s security threats and boost the morale of armed forces personnel.
“What the President must do is to review the salaries of the Nigerian armed forces because it was last reviewed in 2008, we are in 2024.
“We should review the salary of all the security agencies, we should increase the number of security agencies, especially police and the Nigerian Army. We should equip them adequately and we should motivate them,” he added.
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