The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has seen the light, seemingly. He has been speaking about the readiness of the Nigerian government to transform the nation’s legacy broadcast outfits, NTA and Voice of Nigeria, into modern broadcast operations that will be reflective of the expectations of the people, especially government, and broadcast aficionados.

Idris spoke at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he saw the real broadcast world that obviously sent him into delirium about what Nigeria can also do to fall in line with modern broadcasting. NAB combines state-of-the-art broadcast equipment exhibition with high-end conference and seminar presentations.

Last year on this column, we wrote: “If you are a regulator, like the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which superintends the nation’s broadcast industry, Vegas is the place to be this April (2024) because at the NAB Show, there is so much knowledge available, so much expert information and master classes from the industry – manufacturers, vendors, software developers, programmers and even entertainers, that the regulator must soak itself in the midst without giving only the operators the opportunity for such knowledge. The regulator must be steps ahead if it is to provide proper regulatory direction and leadership for the industry.”

But knowing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had placed a moratorium on official international travels at the time because of abuse in some quarters and the need to preserve much needed funds, we had argued: “But life doesn’t have to stop because of the stupidity and failing of others. This is why I want to make a case this morning. The broadcast regulator should be allowed to be in Vegas this April for the good of industry and country. A year out of Vegas by the regulator is like a year out of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). It may take several decades to catch up, and the world and its inventions do not wait for the sluggardly.”

I am not sure Nigeria was officially represented at NAB last year. Such information was very painful to bear because such absence drains the industry of requisite knowledge.

This year the story is different as the Minister led a team to NAB, which includes: Charles Ebuebu, Director-General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Salihu Dembos, Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA); Ali Muhammad Ali, Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN); Lekan Fadolapo, Director-General, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON); Jibril Ndace, Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), among others.

Without doubt, the Minister was in good company as he took with him top officials of relevant government agencies who may be the ones to execute any plan put in place to revamp the industry. “Strategic communication is essential to ensuring that the policies of the Renewed Hope Agenda reach the Nigerian people effectively,” he said.

Idris, according to reports, had the listening ears of Thomas King, Chairman, KINTRONIC Laboratories; Khiran Keerodhur, Chief Operating Officer, Thompson Broadcast; and Gianluca Baccalini, Chief Operating Officer, Systems Engineering, and some others.

This year’s theme, The Tech, The Trend, The Future, captures every nuanced  reasoning and approximation of all-round development and growth of the broadcast  industry. The theme curates today’s industry happenings and contemplates a tomorrow that accommodates emerging broadcast trends and technologies no matter how expansive. It is hoped that the Minister can move beyond words to rescue the government stations from their antiquated state of being where they hibernate as industry dodos and dinosaurs, far beneath the private stations which have set the pace since broadcast deregulation in 1992.

Also last week, there was another significant development. The NBC placed broadcast restrictions on “Tell Your Papa” by Rap musician, Eedris Abdulkareem, as content was “deemed inappropriate for broadcast due to its objectionable nature. It is therefore classified as Not To Be Broadcast (NTBB), as it violates Section 3.1.8 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.”

The copy of the Code I have states in Section 3.8.1a as follows: “The Broadcaster shall ensure that obscene, indecent, vulgar language, lewd and profane expression, presentation or representation are not allowed in a programme.”

There is almost a seismic outrage. Since the song has not been banned in our private devices or homes or even in the social media, a majority of the people who have listened to it can’t really see anything mendacious in Eedris message to the Nigerian President through his son, Seyi, who, himself has roiled public sensibilities with outlandish claims about his father’s performance in office.

Eedris has his commanding view of reality which is expressed in the lyrics of Tell  Your Papa, part of which is stated here. “Seyi, tell your papa country hard. Tell your papa people dey die. Tell your papa this one don pass jagajaga,” he said.

Can reality or the truth be outlawed from our public spaces? No one can stop the creative artist from enjoying  his creative juice even if that may be bitter to some people, which is unfortunate and patently insincere. Are there no killings around the country? What is happening on the Plateau currently? Can it be lobotomised out of reality?

Global literary icon and foremost Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has ventilated his mind on the Eedris ban. In a statement he said: “Courtesy of an artist operating in a different genre – the cartoon – who sent me his recent graphic comment on the event, I learnt recently of a return to the culture of censorship with the banning of the product of a music artist, Eedris Abdulkareem…..

“We have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseum. We know where it all ends. It is boring, time-wasting, diversionary but most essential of all, subversive of all seizures of the fundamental right of free expression,” he observed.

Prof Soyinka couldn’t miss the dose of irony as he pointed out that, “The ban is a boost to the artist’s nest egg. Mr Abdulkareem must be currently warbling his merry way all the way to the bank. I envy him.”

The Nobel Laureate understands what it is for the artist to be repressed by the state. His experiences during the Nigerian Civil War may be too remote for our social media generation who attack his pronouncements, although they hardly understand the language he speaks. Eedris, although much junior to Soyinka in every scale of societal ranking, encapsulates every aspect of the statement.

He had been there before. Protest music seems to be his forte. In the book, The Handkerchief – The Story of High Chief Raymond Anthony Aleogho Dokpesi, Eedris shared his experience under President Obasanjo. “Everybody knows that identity. The identity will give you who  I am and what I stand  for. In 2004, I dropped the song, Nigeria Jagajaga and President Obasanjo came to the national TV and said, “That boy wey sing Nigeria Jagajaga, na your papa and your mama Jagajaga. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. From a nobody, the President made me somebody,” Eedris recalled with some pride.

When President Obasanjo responded to Eedris in his characteristic acerbic humour, the matter was literally over. But times have changed, and the reading of signs and reality have been tainted by prejudiced views of patriotism and warped interpretation of official responsibilities.

By placing NTBB on Tell Your Papa, NBC has only achieved the opposite effect – drawing attention to a song people hardly knew was in existence. It is even worse now because Nigerians are angrier that the broadcast regulator is denying them necessary channels/opportunities of reaching the President with pressing legitimate complaints that may spur him into doing something about their desperate concerns and receding expectations. It was a wrong move by NBC from every interpretation; a ricochet of sorts.

Indeed, Falola’s towering global stature as a leading global scholar has been well documented. But not much is said about the life-touching things he does in the quiet, intimate corners of humanity.

There is no gainsaying that Professor Toyin Falola is Africa’s gift to the world of ideas, intellectualism, and advancement of the human civilisation. From Ibadan he stormed the World, leaving global footprints as a leading architect of the African intellectual renaissance. In many respects, he blazes the trail as a thought leader whose journey and impact cuts across continents, races, and generations.

As a child, I grew up in a premise made up of dual bungalows. A cemented play area separated the main bungalow from a smaller bungalow that had six rooms in what used to be referred to as a face-me-I-face-you dwelling, wherein my parents rented a room.

Many an evening, before bedtime, when it was not raining, all the children from their respective rooms in the compound came with their ‘apotis’ (stools) and a few mats and gathered in the cemented common area between the two bungalows. The gathering was to listen to fascinating stories from elderly residents, whether parents or relations of parents, who were in Ijebu-Ode from varying adjoining villages, as apprentices learning one trade or the other.

The stories provided great philosophical underpinnings of values of public-spiritedness, hard work, contentment, avoidance of avarice, etc. A lot of creativity was involved. The stories were often laced with insights from the Yoruba cosmology that included exposure to the world of spirits of all sorts that one finds in the first African novel published in English or Pidgin English outside of Africa, in 1952 in the UK and in 1953 in the US, Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard. Before Tutuola, though, DO Fagunwa had, in Yoruba, pioneered the creativity of taking people into the realms of spirits, demons, and the dead.

At an early age, children were socialised into many different worlds. These tales were by the moonlight or in almost total darkness, as there was no electricity but a flicker of light provided by kerosene lamps of all sorts. The lantern was popular in this regard. These formed my first conjectures about “iwin”,”ẹbọra”, àjẹ́, and even Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s adoption of “abamì èdá,” following being initially known as Omo ìyá àje. These older story-tellers never clarified how “iwin”, differed from “ẹbọra”. But we knew that àjẹ́ referred to an initiated human female, with supernatural powers, including powers to take life. But in these unisex days, I guess a human male can also be an ajẹ́.

Both “iwin” and “ẹbọra” as supernatural elements, we were told, were ghosts or ghost-like. They could be encountered in the deep forests or like the dead, only in dreams. We knew of older women suspected to be àjẹ́, but as kids, we could only imagine “iwin” and “ẹbọra”. After all, they were not of our world. But that was not until Chief Olusegun Obasanjo accepted being dubbed as “ẹbọra” Owu. Spirits can be malevolent or benevolent, depending on the circumstances and one’s beliefs.

Since Baba Obasanjo is a known “ẹbọra”, then it is possible for living beings to have supernatural capacities that earn them the appellations of “iwin” and “ẹbọra”. Or a unique superhuman persona like Fela could result in the acceptance that such a being is an “abami eda”. Of late, I have been wondering about which would be the correct appellation for Toyin Falola. For all he has achieved and continues to achieve, I asked him which would be the correct description for him from all or none of the above. Toyin Falola responded with a question: what of all the above?

There is no gainsaying that Professor Toyin Falola is Africa’s gift to the world of ideas, intellectualism, and advancement of the human civilisation. From Ibadan he stormed the World, leaving global footprints as a leading architect of the African intellectual renaissance. In many respects, he blazes the trail as a thought leader whose journey and impact cuts across continents, races, and generations.

A total of nine Festschrifts have been produced in his honour. Beyond the written word, Falola has been a formidable voice in shaping African studies, delivering keynote lectures across the globe, serving as president of the African Studies Association, and leading landmark academic and policy discussions on Africa’s place in the world. Mr Toyin Falola has granted so many interviews to many media platforms, not only on the state of African studies and scholarship, but also on critical issues to the society, economy, and politics of Africa and the world at large.

A recipient of numerous prestigious honours that affirm his unparalleled all-encompassing contributions to academia. Herein lies the most interesting part of Toyin Falola’s legacies. His fine capacity to achieve such an uncommon feat in academics, yet capable enough to attend to so many other areas of interest at the same period, over about seven decades of life. This is something many academics continue to find extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible. He has brought very significant contributions to the study of the Humanities, Social Sciences, Literature, and Jurisprudence.

His various efforts over the past decades have reputedly resulted in the authorship, co-authorship, and editing of over 200 books, journals, and academic works on African History, Pan-Africanism, Anglo-African cultures, Latin America and Africa’s interaction with the outside world, to mention just a few. His seminal works, such as Key Events in African History: A Reference Guide, Nationalism and African Intellectuals, as well as Tradition and Change in Africa, have become indispensable in the study of African history and politics. Through many innovative platforms, such as the Toyin Falola Network, Falola Interviews, and Falola Media, he has continued to engage consistently, sharing his ideas, depths, and experiences.

A total of nine Festschrifts have been produced in his honour. Beyond the written word, Falola has been a formidable voice in shaping African studies, delivering keynote lectures across the globe, serving as president of the African Studies Association, and leading landmark academic and policy discussions on Africa’s place in the world. Mr Toyin Falola has granted so many interviews to many media platforms, not only on the state of African studies and scholarship, but also on critical issues to the society, economy, and politics of Africa and the world at large.

Indeed, Falola’s towering global stature as a leading global scholar has been well documented. But not much is said about the life-touching things he does in the quiet, intimate corners of humanity. Beyond academics, his compassion has often revealed itself in deeply personal and localised ways. On such occasions, he extends not only his voice but his hands and heart to friends in trouble.

Falola’s approach has often been to reach out, mobilise support, and restore hope and happiness. He does these by sometimes driving heartfelt fundraising campaigns to help colleagues in distress, to pushing for support for ailing and needy colleagues and friends. One such moment was his response to the tragic ordeal of Professor Adigun Agbaje, when the institution he worked for, while on leave of absence from the University of Ibadan, abandoned him in the hands of kidnappers, even though he was on an official assignment when he was abducted. Falola stood firm in amplifying voices, drawing attention, and catalysing moral and financial solidarity with Agbaje’s family and friends.

Similarly, when Professor Ayo Olukotun took ill and later passed on, Falola did not fold his arms. Twice, he used the trust of friends to raise funds for the period of sickness and subsequent burial, since the institution he also worked for would not do much. He went a step further in championing a foundation in Olukotun’s memory, as a tribute and a living commitment to their shared ideals: justice, knowledge, and a better Nigeria.

It is this same usual character that Falola came through, adorned in his surprising customised adirẹ fabric, as gifts shared at my 70th birthday celebration, with his rich, insightful lecture in my honour in March. That lecture titled, “Power, Privilege and Philosophy,” was delivered with an alluring charm and depth that left the audience at once chuckling and thinking. Anyone who has listened to Falola from the rostrum knows that he has a unique way of delivery, aesthetically wrapping sharp critiques in wit, using humour as both a shield and sword in the quest for truth. Toyin Falola is a master in the twin approaches of story-telling and real deep academic talk in his delivery of lectures and speeches.

His seven-decade life is filled with numerous awards, and various honorary Doctorates worldwide, the latest, being an honorary Doctor of Law from the University of the Free State in South Africa. In addition, he had been bestowed with several African titles and global acclaim. However, it is Falola’s localised empathy, large-heartedness and intellectual generosity that remains one of his most profound and enduring legacies. Toyin Falola is a towering figure with a tender spirit, full of grace and humility.

In an assessment of the Toyin Falola superhuman with a large heart, Professor Serges Kamga said: “…it should be stated clearly that this enigma of a human has given selfless service to humanity. He epitomises humaneness. Throughout the stages of his academic history and career progress, he has continuously advanced the courses of people through his philanthropic disposition to people with whom he has no genetic or communal ties. Falola believes tenaciously that the growth of another individual has never been an impediment to others, and for that reason, he is a committed investor in the progress of others in ways that cannot be overemphasised…”

His seven-decade life is filled with numerous awards, and various honorary Doctorates worldwide, the latest, being an honorary Doctor of Law from the University of the Free State in South Africa. In addition, he had been bestowed with several African titles and global acclaim. However, it is Falola’s localised empathy, large-heartedness and intellectual generosity that remains one of his most profound and enduring legacies. Toyin Falola is a towering figure with a tender spirit, full of grace and humility. He writes extolling and appreciating the efforts, progress, and achievements of others.

Falola’s firm grip on the ways of culture and religion of the African peoples may have been influenced by his background, growing up in a sprawling, polygamous household that practised Islam, Christianity, and ancient Yoruba spirituality. Falola can connect scriptures in the Bible with tenets from the Quran and yet relate with some deep spiritual chants of the Yoruba Ifa. This interesting mix of different worldviews and religions easily reflects in his thinking and the depth of the stories in his rich academic outputs in various areas of the human and social sciences.

During his address to the graduating students at the University of the Free State in South Africa, Falola, in quick succession, rendered three African folk tales to drive home the import of the rule of law in the organised non-anarchical society. He would have made the chief storyteller of my first decade in life – Buroda Bode – then a mechanic in training grin with envy.

Another round of lectures ended in South Africa and I realised that I should have directed my question on who is Toyin Falola to Dr Bisi Falola – his wife of about four-and-a-half decades. So, Doc, is Toyin an “iwin”,”ẹbọra”, “àjẹ́”, or “abàmì edà” or none or all of the above? To be married to an academic is a major challenge. To be side-by-side with an itinerant scholar always on the move and who reputedly can also remain indoors writing non-stop for five to seven days requires a hugely understanding superhuman of sort.

I salute Mrs Bisi Falola for being a supportively humble and tolerant superb human in her own right. She is ever ready to welcome Toyin’s many friends to sumptuous meals, and even offer professional advice on health, as I was once a beneficiary from her merely listening to my voice over the phone. She got it right that I was sick and needed medical attention. A few days later, she initiated the call to check if I sought medical attention and was improving.

Babafemi A. Badejo, author of a best-seller on politics in Kenya, was a former Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, and is currently a legal practitioner and consultant at Yintab Strategy Consults, as well as the African Annual Conference at the University of Texas at Austin’s 2025 Nelson Mandela Distinguished Africanist Awardee.

Rita, Bob Nesta Marley’s widow, says who feels it knows it but in Nigeria, the reverse is the case! Here, who feels it does not know it and who does not feel it knows it! The lyrics of “Who feels it (Knows it)”, recorded in 1980 but released in 1981 goes thus: “Every man thinks his burden is the heaviest/But, ooh, yea, come on, they know because they feel”. She adds: “I feel it and I know it/If you feel it, you will know it”

That being the case, we expect Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, governor of Borno state, to know the security situation of his state more than a Minister or presidential aide in far-away Abuja. Apart from the fact that Zulum is the man on ground, he is also, according to the Constitution, the chief security officer of his state. For him to come out to raise the alarm that Boko Haram terrorists were gaining ground in his state means he must have got it up to his throat.

The BBC reported Zulum’s security alert thus: “The governor of Nigeria’s Borno state has warned that jihadist group Boko Haram is making a comeback after its fighters staged a series of attacks and seized control of some parts of the northeastern state. Babagana Zulum called for more military assistance for soldiers fighting the insurgency.
The Nigerian government has down played the governor’s fears, saying security in the country has improved in the last 18 months. Borno state has been at the centre of a 15-year insurgency by Boko Haram, which has forced more than two million people to flee their homes and (has) killed more than 40,000 (people)”

Reuters reported the same story thus: “Nigeria’s Islamist group Boko Haram has renewed attacks and kidnappings in northeastern Borno state with little push-back from security forces, suggesting that authorities in the region were losing ground to insurgents, the state’s governor has said. Militants from Boko Haram and its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province have mainly operated in the northeast region of NIgeria, attacking security forces and civilians and displacing tens of thousands of people. In the last few years, Nigeria’s military had managed to push back against Boko Haram while internal fights with ISWAP further weakened the group.

“Borno State governor Babagana Zulum said Boko Haram had recently upped attacks, dislodging some military formations in several districts and killing civilians and security forces. It is a setback in the fragile state of Borno and the northeast region, Zulum said during a meeting with security forces in Borno state capital, Maiduguri… Zulum added that the ‘renewed Boko Haram attacks and kidnappings in many communities, almost on a daily basis without confrontation, signalled that Borno state is losing ground’

“Nigeria’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Boko Haram, which is based in Borno state, has adapted its tactics over time, including the use of drones for surveillance and attacks, the military said”.

Sahara Reporters relayed the Federal Government’s response to the Zulum alarm thus: “The President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian Government has responded to comments made by the Borno state governor, Babagana Zulum, suggesting that the state may be losing control to Boko Haram insurgents. The government, through the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, disagreed with Zulum’s claim. The minister emphasized that the administration remains committed to combating terrorism and banditry across the nation. He stated: ‘The Tinubu administration is committed to eradicating acts of banditry and terrorism across the country. The success achieved by the security agencies in the last 18 months are an indication that, indeed, Nigeria is gradually returning to normalcy. Government calls on all, especially the sub-national governments, to join hands to ensure (the) rapid eradication of the remaining pockets of criminal elements wherever they may be’

“The Defence Headquarters also reacted, affirming that troops are making significant sacrifices and doing their best to restore peace in Borno and other troubled states. Director of Defence Media Operations… stressed the importance of recognizing the military’s efforts. He also said that the military is sacrificing a lot in the ongoing fight against terrorism.”

Now, let us attempt a content analysis of the various reports. Zulum kicked the ball rolling by raising the alarm. Obviously, both the government and military authorities did not take kindly to what he said. Did he speak in the open when they expected him to have spoken discreetly with the authorities, security being a very sensitive matter? From the tone of the military authorities, it is like their sacrifice in laying down their life fighting Boko Haram was not appreciated enough. Appreciation is good and it must be given so that the soldiers can be further encouraged to do more but having said that, what is their job if not to make sacrifices for the country? Didn’t they sign to lay down their life for their country? So, doing their job, they aren’t doing anyone a favour in the real sense of it.

But when the same military authorities say they are doing their best, that statement is loaded and must be interrogated. Are they getting the requisite arms and ammunitions? Do they have the numbers? Is motivation good? Is the budget committed to the war efforts adequate? Are the authorities putting square pegs in square holes or are we allowing the ubiquitous NIgerian system to undermine esprit in the military? Importantly, is the local population the military is fighting to protect cooperating with the same military or sabotaging their efforts by collaborating with the terrorists? We must also ask: What is the contribution of the state government to the war efforts? If Gov. Zulum is the chief security officer of his state, it should not only be in words but also in action.

I have gone to this length because, looking at the surface, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Zulum’s wake-up call. He made it at a Special Expanded Security Meeting attended by the appropriate military commands and top traditional rulers. Maybe the “offence” was that the media reported it! Maybe, they should have excused the media from the meeting. Seeing the way the military has taken exceptions to the report, it must have interpreted it as an indictment. But the governor did say there was an improvement; grounds were gained but, sadly, they were being lost again and in an alarming fashion. Some will say, when grounds were gained, did the governor call a press conference to salute the military? Is it only now that grounds were being lost that he must raise an alarm?

The Information minister’s response clearly shows that he sees Zulum’s statement as an attack on the “achievements” of the government in the area of pecking back Boko Haram. Yes, there might have been an improvement in the last 18 months in one theatre of the battle, which is Borno state or the northeast, but the situation is not the same in other parts of the country. My native Ondo State is one area where insecurity has reached an alarming stage in the past few months. Can it be true, then, the reports that terrorists fleeing the theatre of war in the North moved in droves southwards? It is trite that when you liberate a territory, you must hold it; otherwise, you may lose it again and be back to square one. And the latter state may be worse than the former because the enemy could come back better armed and more determined than before.

Jesus Christ illustrated this in Matthew 12: 43 - 45 thus: “ When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first…” Can this be what is happening in Borno state because Zulum reeled out names of locations where military formations had recently been dislodged by the terrorists?

As a peacemaker, hear my conclusion: The military have been heroic; let’s appreciate them. The Tinubu administration has recorded some successes; let’s encourage it to do more. Gov. Zulum was being alive to his responsibilities by raising the alarm; let’s not throw the baby away with the bathwater. We must quickly act to reverse any Boko Haram comeback.

This is one reason why the foot-dragging on state police must stop. With state police, Gov. Zulum will be able to raise his own forces to confront the terrorists and get the job done as he would want it; no longer will he rely solely on the military. Then, he will feel the heat that the military feel. And who feels it, says Rita Marley, knows it! The man who wears the shoe knows where it pinches!

Do you wonder what the future holds? Have you dreamed of being part of something bigger than yourself, something also rewarding beyond just buying and selling? Yes, have you considered a different path that offers you excellent career opportunities, future security, and the pride of representing the best interests of Anambra State and indeed the Southeast through strategic positioning in the national scheme of things? 

Some life-changing opportunities come once in a while that require smart decisions; otherwise, inaction today may lead to painful regrets tomorrow. For years now, our vibrant state, Anambra, has been unable to fill its quota in Nigeria's Armed Forces recruitment exercises due to abysmally low interest shown by our able youth. This means opportunities meant specifically for our young people are going unclaimed, while other regions in Nigeria eagerly step forward. Are we then going to keep beating the drums of marginalisation forever? 

Some analysts have often said that some of us have hesitated joining the Nigerian Armed Forces due to concerns about historical factors, ethnic prejudice, or other misconceptions bandied around. But our Armed Forces have always remained a truly national, progressive institution that values the contributions of every Nigerian, regardless of origin. By joining, Southeast youth not only secure their future but also ensure the region's voice and interests are represented and protected within this crucial national institution.

So, another golden opportunity is here and is within every Anambra youth’s grasp! The Nigerian Army has opened its doors once again, with the 89 Regular Recruiting Tech Recruitment Exercise commencing on March 31st and running until May 17th, 2025. This is not just another routine enlistment opportunity; it is a pathway to a dignified career filled with purpose and equal opportunity.

Consider all the real benefits that await you. A stable career with enhanced regular pay and allowances. Opportunities to further your education at no cost. The chance to build lifelong friendships with fellow Nigerians from diverse backgrounds. Comprehensive healthcare and insurance benefits. A clear path to homeownership in your desired location. And of course, pension and gratuity for your future security! 

If you are single, 18-22 years of age (or up to 26 years for those with technical skills), physically fit, and free of criminal convictions, this call is for you. Visit the Nigerian Army Recruitment website at https://recruitment.army.mil.ng to apply before May 17th. 

What is even more endearing is that the whole application and recruitment process is completely free! Shortlisted candidates will participate in the screening exercise in Anambra State from June 2nd to June 16th, 2025.

Ndi Anambra, our state needs you to encourage our youth to step forward and take their future by the uniform. Our country needs them. According to a Nigerian adage, if you are not present at a meeting of your people sharing some benefits, you can't complain about how the sharing is done! Let our youth step forward and claim their rightful place in Nigeria's future!