Let the children of those who enjoy Nigeria fight for Nigeria 1. There is a simple solution to the Nigerian Army's recruitment difficulties in the Southeast, and it should extend across Nigeria. 2. The National Assembly must begin debating legislation that places the burden of national defence at the doorsteps of those who govern Nigeria. 3. Let every politician with medically eligible adult children be required to encourage at least two of them to serve in the Nigerian Army for five years. 4. After all, if Nigeria is worth defending, surely it is worth defending by the children of those who have benefited most from its existence. 5. Nigeria has paid their bills, funded their privileges, provided their mansions, Bentleys, Bugattis and luxurious holidays across Europe and America. 6. Surely, five years of military service is not too much to ask. 7. Imagine an army populated by the children of senators, governors, ministers and presidents. 8. Would soldiers be served watery beans and food that even dogs won't accept? 9. Would military equipment remain inadequate? 10. Would soldiers be sent into battle without proper protection? 11. Perhaps the urgency of military reform would become unmistakable when those making the decisions also have children facing the consequences. 12. For the longest, the children of ordinary Nigerians have been invited to make sacrifices that the children of privilege are rarely expected to share. 13. And now, military authorities wonder why young people are reluctant to enlist. 14. Dear generals, look inwards. 15. Visit the National Assembly before returning to the villages of the Southeast. 16. Ask the lawmakers who speak so passionately about patriotism to demonstrate it within their own families. 17. A nation cannot endlessly demand the blood of the poor while reserving its comforts for the powerful. 18. Patriotism should not be a sermon preached by the privileged to the expendable. 19. Let those who govern share the risks of defending the country they govern. 20. A country that has richly 'blessed' them

Over 250 federal institutions in Nigeria, yet the Army is where they keep asking for Igbo youths Nigeria has hundreds of federal agencies, commissions, government-owned enterprises, regulatory bodies and public institutions. Consider this extensive list, organised by sector. 1. Presidency and public administration Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), National Population Commission (NPC), National Boundary Commission, Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Federal Character Commission (FCC), Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Public Complaints Commission (PCC), Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON), Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), National Quality Council, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC), Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA). 2. Finance, banking and taxation Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), National Pension Commission (PenCom), Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Bank of Industry (BOI), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST), Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Budget Office of the Federation, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigerian Commodity Exchange (NCX). 3. Industry, trade and investment Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA), National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal (FCCPT). 4. Oil and gas Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA). Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), Nigerian Gas Marketing Limited (NGML).

Dear Brigadier General Dikko, our mothers did not raise their sons for Borno Dear Brigadier General Dikko, 1. You lamented that Abia State could not produce even 100 recruits for the Nigerian Army. 2. You wondered how you would explain this failure to your superiors. 3. But General, perhaps you are asking the wrong question. 4. What exactly is the Nigerian Army desperately seeking in Igbo youths that the NNPC, FIRS, EFCC, Customs and Immigration are not equally desperate to find? 5. Why must southeastern inclusion become urgent only when rifles are involved? 6. Nigeria fought a devastating war to prevent the Igbo people from leaving. 7. Perhaps Nigeria should concentrate on protecting the people it fought to retain, rather than lamenting their reluctance to become its protectors. 8. Times are changing, General. 9. A generation is emerging that understands that patriotism is not measured by willingness to die. 10. A farmer feeds civilisation. 11. A doctor preserves life. 12. An engineer builds nations. 13. An entrepreneur creates prosperity. 14. These are also forms of national service. 15. Some warn that without military recruitment today, the Southeast may have no generals in thirty years. 16. But General, perhaps in thirty years, these young people will own hospitals, industries, farms and technological empires. 17. Tinubu never became a general to command the protection of generals. 18. The military exists to protect citizens, not merely those who enlist. 19. And before you recruit another mother's son to fight insurgents in the never ending Borno war, remember that his life is not a statistic. 20. His mother cannot embrace a military medal. 21. His children cannot eat a posthumous citation. 22. If fewer than 100 youths volunteered, perhaps you should investigate why public confidence has diminished, rather than lament their absence. 23. Help these young people find other meaningful opportunities. 24. General, the Igbo youth is not a recruitment quota. His life is not expendable. 25. A generation that chooses to build rather than fight has not necessarily lost its courage. 26. Perhaps it has finally discovered the value of its future. 27. If you still need soldiers, ask Soludo, Rochas, OUK, TA Orji to send their sons.