S/East youths shunning military enlistment – Army

Authorities of the Nigerian Army yesterday lamented the poor enlistment of Igbo youths from the South East zone of the country into military service, saying it is high time they changed their attitude to reverse the trend. It specifically called on the youths of the zone to apply en masse in the ongoing 2025 recruitment […]

Authorities of the Nigerian Army yesterday lamented the poor enlistment of Igbo youths from the South East zone of the country into military service, saying it is high time they changed their attitude to reverse the trend.

It specifically called on the youths of the zone to apply en masse in the ongoing 2025 recruitment exercise to fill their quotas the way their counterparts in other zones did.

The ground force raised this concern in Enugu at the weekend during an enlightenment town hall meeting with local government council chairmen, traditional rulers, presidents-general of town unions and other stakeholders.

Leader of the 2025 Army Recruitment Enlightenment Team, Chima Ekeator, a brigadier-general, explained that they had observed that in the last few years, youths from the zone have kept shunning their slots.

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The general said Kaduna State recorded over 3,000 applications in the ongoing 2025 recruitment exercise while Enugu State was still struggling to get 100 applicants.

The senior military officer noted that the story was not different from other Southeast states, adding that youths from the zone should denounce all falsehoods out there that are making them shun military enlistment.

He stated, “Take for example, Enugu State was given about 200 slots, but the people who made it were never up to 100 due to poor application. This has also become a recurring decimal in other states in the South East.

Ekeator dismissed the allegations that people of South East origin were being killed in their numbers in the army because they were the first to be sent to the battle front.

According to him, the region was also holding strategic positions in the army presently.

Speaking, the Commissioner for Youths and Sports Development, Barr. Lloyd Ekweremadu, regretted that the problem had persisted despite the collective efforts to reverse the trend and called for a review of modes of advertising the opportunities and the need to provide more details about the benefits of serving in the army.

He said Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, would do everything to ensure that the state filled its quota while describing the military as a noble and highly respected profession across the world.