My administration recruited 60,000 soldiers – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said his administration had so far facilitated the recruitment of over 60,000 soldiers for the army.

He said this was aside thousands of commissioned officers from the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.

He spoke in Abuja yesterday reviewing the parade of over 1,000 officers of the Nigerian Army at their Trooping and Presentation of Colours Parade 2023.

He said in the area of troops’ welfare, this administration had also facilitated the approval of manual for financial administration which had greatly enhanced the pay and allowances of troops.

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He said this had boosted the troops’ morale to discharge their constitutional mandate.

He said over 50,000 children and wards of personnel who died in active service were on the Nigerian Army Scholarship from 2015 to date.

Buhari also said the fighting power of the military had increased significantly under his administration.

He said the Armed Forces of Nigeria had made its way to fourth position in ranking among African militaries as against the seventh it was in 2015.

Buhari, who noted that the military’s fighting power was at a low ebb in 2015, said his administration had transformed the army in the areas of fighting power, training, operations, manpower, remunerations and medical services.

He said the military had restructured the conduct of its operations to meet current realities, saying the quantum of platforms induced into the army since 2015 had enabled troops to take the battle to the terrorists and criminals, particularly in the North East.

He said this had resulted in the recapture of territories hitherto held by the insurgents, adding that the efforts of the troops leading to unprecedented successes was evident in the increased number of neutralised insurgents and those that voluntarily surrendered alongside their families.

Earlier, the Nigerian Army conducted a historic trooping and presentation of colours parade, retiring and replacing 53 units’ regimental colours and issued 28 new ones for newly established units.

Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said THE colours of several units in the army had either been damaged or worn out since 2007.

Nwachukwu said several units had also been established an operationalised and deserving of new colours.

He said these necessitated the approval by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, for the conduct of the 2023 trooping and presentation of colours parade.