REPORT: Massive Corruption, Poor Welfare Reasons For Mass Resignation In Nigerian Army

The reason behind the mass resignation in the Nigeria Army is not due to routine yearly retirement procedure of personnel as claimed by the military hierarchy, Nigeria Abroad understands.

You recalled that in recent media reports, between 365 to 380 military personnel resigned, though the army said the numbers are no where near the purported figure in the media.

Citing an official document titled “Approval for Voluntary/Medical Discharge…”, the magazine said 386 soldiers left the army.

The magazine disclosed that a lot more applied for discharge but did not receive approval. In fact, our source says commanders sit on such applications on end, forcing many to remain in the army against their will.

According to the Magazine, systemic weaponisation of poverty, poor welfare and lack of will to end the insurgency as it has become a cash cow for the military high command contributed significantly to the mass resignation.

“If I didn’t threaten to desert, they wouldn’t approve mine,” the magazine quoted a source to have said. “The process of leaving is so frustrating that many don’t even bother. Sometimes the application is rejected and no one tells you why.”

Other times, some simply desert..

It reported that, despite denial from the army, morale of the soldiers is low, Soldiers lament not only poor equipment and government sabotage in the fight against terror, but also an endemic corruption that lines the pocket of top officers with the blood of front-line fighters.

“The Nigerian army is like a casket,” one source averred. “Beautiful outside, but rotten inside.” Many are leaving upon finding out that the institution is not what they thought it to be. Others, out of poverty.

A PTE, the lowest ranking officer earns a paltry N50,000 a month. A Lance Corporal earns N57,000, a Corporal, N60,000. Except an allowance of N20,000 for these ranks, nothing more, say respondents who spoke on anonymity. They refer to a general impression in the army that soldiers properly catered for will be unwilling to fight. Soldiers are therefore systematically pauperized, their poverty weaponized as a psychology for warfare.

“Except you go on foreign mission or illegal duty, you can’t even afford a car. Many join the force out of unemployment. If you want to resign and think of the fact that you can hardly fit into the labor market outside, you stay back,” à source disclosed.

While front-line soldiers face hard times at the war front and economically too, top officials are lobbying to command units in the terror war, the source revealed. “They become 100 times richer than they were. I can name names.”

Systemic pauperization of soldiers, however, is not essentially official. Soldiers who spoke to the magazine say a document, the Manual of Army Finance Administration, MAFA, offers them more emoluments than they are getting. While MAFA is not easily available to the public, including to front-line soldiers, its protected details continue to inspire suspicion of graft.

In 2019, the army denied allegations of MAFA corruption, saying the proposal “has not been activated and therefore yet to be implemented, since the appropriation 2020 was recently passed.”

But the main source responds that it’s a lie. “They are criminally intelligent. If MAFA is not operational, they should provide any valid document that contains the allowances and remuneration of soldiers.”

He says up to “70% of soldiers don’t even know about MAFA,” as the authorities strictly guard it “aware that even the most docile soldier will revolt upon seeing that document.”

Soldiers buy own uniforms and boots, our investigations reveal. With these grievances against the institution, the country’s gallant men have little interest in the fight against terror, except to the extent of staying alive one day at a time. “The war is a goldmine and the cabal don’t want it to end. Soldiers die in battle and are either under-reported or declared ‘missing in action,’” the source laments.

He mentions Lt. Col. Abu Ali, a commander reportedly killed by Boko Haram in 2016. Ali’s death united Nigerians in grief, but the source alleges the colonel “was one officer who was ready to stop Boko Haram but was assassinated by the army.”

Why is there no protest?

“Ask questions and get charged,” he retorts. Indeed, in 2014, 54 soldiers who refused to fight, protesting inferior armament were sentenced to death though another report says they were acquitted a year later. The military is built on obedience and subordination, which can also entrench silence and graft.

The source says lack of transparency on military finance is predicated on the notion that the army is a sensitive force whose funds should not be scrutinized by civilians. But whether that notion serves the army’s interest or that of a military oligarchy is up for debate.

While the anti-terror campaign continues, concerns for soldier welfare must be taken seriously, as should the allegations of corrupt enrichment against senior officers. A growing demoralization of soldiers would pose a worse calamity for a country fighting insurgency. The federal government must act before it is too late