{"id":130215,"date":"2026-10-22T19:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=130215"},"modified":"2026-10-22T19:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:59:08","slug":"why-south-east-youths-shun-military-recruitment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/why-south-east-youths-shun-military-recruitment\/","title":{"rendered":"Why South-East Youths Shun Military Recruitment"},"content":{"rendered":"

By John Azu<\/strong><\/p>\n

Human rights concerns, distrust of the military, poor remuneration and changing employment preferences have emerged as some of the factors discouraging youths in the South-East from enlisting in the Nigerian Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

The trend has raised concerns among political leaders and military authorities, who warn that the region risks losing representation in the country’s security architecture if young people continue to shun military recruitment.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, senior government officials and military officers have expressed concern over the low number of applicants from the South-East, particularly for Nigerian Army recruitment. The shortfall has left recruitment slots allocated to the zone largely unfilled, with applicants from other parts of the country filling the vacancies.<\/p>\n

For the 91st and 92nd regular recruits’ intakes in 2026, the Nigerian Army targeted 28,000 personnel to strengthen its capacity to tackle insecurity nationwide. Although recruitment quotas vary by state and are subject to other criteria, some states reportedly recorded significantly higher applications than their South-East counterparts.<\/p>\n

Kaduna State, for instance, reportedly produced 3,000 recruits, while Enugu and Anambra recorded fewer than 100 and 117 candidates, respectively, at different recruitment exercises.<\/p>\n

The apathy is also evident, to varying degrees, in recruitment into other security agencies, including the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force and Nigeria Police Force. In some instances, vacancies allocated to South-East states have reportedly been filled by applicants from neighbouring states, including Akwa Ibom, Benue and Kogi.<\/p>\n

The situation has prompted questions about why a region with a large population of young people is reluctant to embrace military service and what the consequences could be for its future participation in national security institutions.<\/p>\n

Low enlistment could hurt South-East representation<\/h2>\n

Political leaders in the South-East have warned that the persistent reluctance of youths to enlist could leave the region with fewer senior officers in the military and other security agencies in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, raised the concern during the Armed Forces Remembrance Day commemoration in Awka, lamenting what he described as the low expression of interest in military and police recruitment among youths from the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the time to remind ourselves that the civil war has ended 56 years ago because still our youths from the South-East, and particularly from Anambra, the last recruitment exercise into the army and even into the police force, Ndi Anambra, I think had the lowest expression of interest in the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Soludo urged young people in the region to enlist in the armed forces, arguing that avoiding national institutions could undermine their participation in the country’s political and institutional development.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria belongs to all of us, we cannot participate in it by avoiding it; we cannot be full members, but at the same time get out. This is one area where we are marginalising ourselves, nobody is marginalising us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He warned that the region could eventually complain about the absence of officers of Igbo extraction in the security services if young people continued to avoid recruitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you refuse to enter the police, the armed forces, then in a few decades to come, you will turn around to complain that there are no officers of Anambra or Igbo extraction. We must participate equally as equal co-owners of project Nigeria,\u201d the governor added.<\/p>\n

Soludo reiterated the call at the funeral of General Obiakor, arguing that negative perceptions of the Nigerian Armed Forces among some Igbo youths needed to be addressed.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the senator representing Anambra South, Emma Nwachukwu, warned during an engagement with constituents in his country home in Ukpor, Nnewi South Local Government Area, that the trend could leave the South-East poorly represented in the military in the future.<\/p>\n

Nwachukwu identified fear of deployment to insurgency-prone areas, misinformation and rumours of persecution of Igbo officers as factors contributing to the reluctance.<\/p>\n

Military authorities have also expressed concern.<\/p>\n

On July 6, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Waidi Shaibu, lamented the persistently low turnout of recruits from the South-East during an event at the Nigerian Army Recruits Training Depot in Amasiri-Edda, Ebonyi State.<\/p>\n

Shaibu said recruitment quotas allocated to the zone had remained largely unfilled for years, describing the situation as unacceptable. He appealed to traditional rulers and other community leaders to encourage young men and women to take advantage of available opportunities in the Army.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ask for your continued support because military service is very demanding. Please stand by them, encourage them and pray for them,\u201d he said, referring to personnel completing their training.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo our hosts, the Ndigbo, I humbly appeal to you to encourage your youths to take their rightful place in the defence of our fatherland.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some time now, the recruitment quota allocated to this zone has not been fully utilised, this should not continue. Military service is not just a career but an honourable endeavour of patriotism, leadership and national contribution,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Brig.-Gen. Ogbonnaya Igwe, an indigene of Abia State, also said he had been directed by the Chief of Army Staff to encourage South-East youths to enlist, insisting that military service should not be viewed as an automatic death sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am from Aba, I was the senior prefect of All Saints Secondary School, Ogbor Hill in 1994. I was just pointing at where we lived. And there are other colleagues of mine from this area who joined the army, three of us, and we are growing in rank and there are many others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Igwe said he had served in different parts of the country and participated in peacekeeping operations abroad, adding that his experience demonstrated that a military career did not necessarily end in death.<\/p>\n

The Commandant of the Ohafia Division in Abia State, Brig.-Gen. A.M. Dikko, also expressed concern over the low number of applicants from the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbia State where I am right now does not even apply enough to meet up with the quota. As the commander here, when they did the last one and my state was producing less than 100, I was worried because I had met my own boss and he said, \u2018I sent you to work, is it that you don’t have a good relationship with the people? What have you failed to do?\u2019 I had to start asking questions, I asked the medical, let me see the result, this one what is the issue, this one what is the issue?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But while military authorities and political leaders see low enlistment as a threat to the region’s future representation, critics argue that the reluctance cannot be separated from historical grievances, allegations of human rights abuses and a deep-seated lack of trust.<\/p>\n

Human rights allegations fuel distrust<\/h2>\n

Efforts to persuade South-East youths to enlist have drawn criticism from some individuals and groups who argue that the military must first address allegations of abuses against civilians in the region.<\/p>\n

Beyond the memories of the Nigerian Civil War, critics point to military operations and security crackdowns associated with separatist agitation, particularly between 2015 and 2023, as factors that have strained relations between sections of the population and security agencies.<\/p>\n

During this period, the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), and other separatist groups were met with security operations by the military, police, the Department of State Services and regional security outfits, including Ebubeagu.<\/p>\n

The period was marked by allegations of unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and the destruction of homes and other property. Security agencies have also faced attacks by armed groups, with civilians caught in the violence.<\/p>\n

The scale of the killings and responsibility for particular incidents remain contested. However, reports by human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, and accounts by civil society groups have contributed to continuing calls for investigations into alleged abuses by security personnel and armed groups.<\/p>\n

Videos circulating on social media, alongside accounts of shootings, the discovery of bodies and the destruction of civilian property, have further shaped perceptions of the military among some young people in the region.<\/p>\n

A group known as Rule of Law Nigeria argued on X that the Army should address its troubled relationship with sections of the Igbo population before expecting young people to enlist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Nigerian Army will shoot and kill unarmed Igbo civilians, Igbos will certainly not be good fit for Nigeria Army. They should look elsewhere for recruits,\u201d the organisation posted.<\/p>\n

Aloy Ejimakor, special counsel to IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, attributed the low enlistment to distrust arising from what he described as structural marginalisation and an imbalance in the country’s security institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reluctance of Igbo youths to enlist in the Nigerian armed forces is not a deficit of valour, but a calculated refusal to serve an institution they deeply mistrust,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ejimakor argued that perceptions of ethnic imbalance in security leadership and the deployment of the armed forces during crises had reinforced suspicions among some South-East youths.<\/p>\n

He cited the killings of Igbo people in Northern Nigeria in 1967 and more recent security operations involving youths suspected of links to IPOB, including incidents in Nkpor, Aba, Obigbo and Port Harcourt, as events that had deepened resentment.<\/p>\n

He also questioned the implications of the military’s deradicalisation programme for former Boko Haram fighters, arguing that some South-East youths were uncomfortable with the prospect of serving under commanders they distrust while former insurgents were being reintegrated into society.<\/p>\n

A social media activist, Elochukwu Ohagi, also recalled military operations in the region, particularly Operation Python Dance, as contributing to the fear associated with military uniforms among some youths.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t forget the Python Dance, and the pythons danced three times. And as it danced, Igbo youths continued to die. A borrow pit was discovered in Enugu State where bodies of \u1ecagbo youths mutilated with acid were dumped. It was horrific. The pythons were Nigerian soldiers, and their prey were Igbo youths,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ohagi argued that allegations of killings, disappearances and the destruction of markets and homes had damaged the military’s image among sections of the population.<\/p>\n

His position reflects a broader argument among critics that recruitment campaigns alone may not be enough to overcome years of mistrust.<\/p>\n

However, political leaders have also cautioned against a blanket rejection of military service, arguing that sustained disengagement could further weaken the region’s presence in national institutions.<\/p>\n

The National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Kenneth Udeze, identified four factors behind the trend: the lingering scars of the Civil War, perceptions of marginalisation, distrust of security agencies and the availability of alternative economic opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy view is that boycotting the military does not help Ndigbo. The more we abstain, the more we self-marginalise in an institution that decides national security. An army without federal character will never be a truly Nigerian Army,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot complain of being excluded from the security architecture while rejecting the entry door when it is open,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Udeze called on the Defence Headquarters to publish state-by-state recruitment and promotion data to demonstrate fairness. He also urged South-East governors and Ohanaeze Ndigbo to take a more active role in encouraging recruitment, while asking the military to assure prospective recruits that they would not be deployed as political instruments against their communities.<\/p>\n

Requests for comments from the Ohanaeze Ndigbo secretariat through its publicity secretary, Ezichi Chukwu, were unanswered at the time of filing this report.<\/p>\n

Changing nature of work shifts youth preferences<\/h2>\n

Beyond historical grievances and concerns about security, analysts say the changing nature of employment is another important factor in the reluctance of South-East youths to join the military.<\/p>\n

The region has a long tradition of commerce, entrepreneurship and migration in search of economic opportunities. For many young people, trading, technology-related work, private enterprise and relocation abroad offer alternatives to a military career.<\/p>\n

Udeze observed that military service, once regarded by some families as a dependable route out of poverty, now competes with a wider range of opportunities that promise greater flexibility and potentially higher earnings.<\/p>\n

He said many youths preferred to pursue business, technology jobs or japa<\/em>\u2014the popular Nigerian term for emigrating in search of better opportunities\u2014rather than commit to a regimented career involving substantial personal risks.<\/p>\n

The argument is that military service demands discipline, transfers, long periods away from family and the possibility of deployment to dangerous locations. For young people with other options, these demands may outweigh the perceived financial and professional benefits.<\/p>\n

A social media account, AdaIgbo Global, also questioned the attractiveness of military remuneration, comparing the earnings and benefits of Nigerian personnel with those available to service members in the United States.<\/p>\n

Although military pay varies by rank, allowances and conditions of service, critics argue that compensation and welfare must be sufficiently attractive to compete with opportunities in the private sector.<\/p>\n

The changing employment landscape has also expanded young people’s expectations of work. Remote employment, digital entrepreneurship and technology-driven businesses can offer greater autonomy than traditional careers, including military service.<\/p>\n

Analyst Kingsley Odenigbo said the trend reflected the exposure of South-East youths to alternative opportunities and their determination to improve their economic circumstances.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people want something better for themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The World Economic Forum’s January 2025 Future of Jobs Report<\/em> lends context to the changing employment environment. It projected that global labour-market changes driven by technology, demographic shifts, the green transition and economic pressures could create 170 million jobs and displace 92 million by 2030, resulting in a net increase of 78 million jobs.<\/p>\n

The report identified technology-related roles, including big data specialists, fintech engineers, artificial intelligence and machine-learning specialists, and software developers, among the fastest-growing occupations in percentage terms.<\/p>\n

It also projected growth in frontline occupations such as delivery drivers, construction workers, salespersons and food-processing workers, as well as jobs in healthcare and education.<\/p>\n

These shifts point to an employment environment in which young people have an expanding range of career options. While the projections do not explain recruitment patterns in the South-East specifically, they help illustrate the broader competition facing traditional employers.<\/p>\n

For the military, the challenge may therefore extend beyond persuading youths to embrace patriotism. It must also demonstrate that service offers credible prospects for professional development, financial security and personal advancement.<\/p>\n

Can a different military engagement model help?<\/h2>\n

The factors behind low enlistment suggest that a sustained recruitment campaign may not be sufficient to reverse the trend.<\/p>\n

While the military has emphasised patriotism and the need for the South-East to participate in national security, critics argue that rebuilding trust will require credible responses to allegations of abuses, greater transparency and assurances that personnel from the region will be treated fairly.<\/p>\n

Publishing verifiable recruitment and promotion figures by state and geopolitical zone could help address concerns about representation. Transparent investigations into allegations of abuses against civilians, alongside accountability where wrongdoing is established, could also improve confidence in the institution.<\/p>\n

Better remuneration, improved welfare and clearer career-development pathways may make military service more competitive with private-sector employment. Recruitment campaigns could also provide young people and their families with detailed information about training, deployment, benefits and opportunities for advancement.<\/p>\n

Some observers have suggested expanding the military’s visibility in community service, disaster response, medical outreach, engineering projects and other humanitarian activities, allowing young people to see its contribution beyond combat operations.<\/p>\n

Such engagement would not remove the military’s core responsibility to defend the country, nor would it eliminate the risks inherent in service. It could, however, help build more constructive relationships between military personnel and civilian communities.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the debate over South-East recruitment goes beyond the number of applicants who fill the region’s allotted slots. It raises questions about trust, national integration, economic opportunity and the relationship between citizens and the institutions responsible for their security.<\/p>\n

For political leaders, the immediate task is to persuade young people that participation in the armed forces is compatible with their interests and aspirations. For the military, the challenge is to demonstrate through its conduct, welfare policies and recruitment practices that the institution deserves their confidence.<\/p>\n

Whether the region’s youths will respond to the renewed appeals may depend on how convincingly both sides address the concerns keeping them away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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