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Former Ogun State Governor and Senator representing Ogun East in the National Assembly, Gbenga Daniel, has lamented that the South West zone of the country has the lowest rate of enlistment in the military.
Daniel, who is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Navy, stated this on Tuesday while featuring in a programme tagged ‘Dialogue With Journalists,’ organized by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ogun State Council, in Abeokuta.
He expressed concern that individuals from different regions of the nation come to him for help in getting their people enlisted in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Police, but Ogun State residents do not take advantage of the opportunity to enlist.
The senator linked parents’ discouragement of their children from enlisting in the military in the past to the current lack of interest in joining the armed forces. He claimed that individuals from other regions of the nation exploited this deterrent.
The lawmaker said that while military service was labeled as a job for ‘miscreants’ in the 60s and 70s, it has produced leaders who have contributed significantly to the nation’s politics and economy.
He said, “As the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Navy, I have seen firsthand our people’s lackadaisical approach to enlistment into this noble service.
“A lot of positive things are happening in the Nigerian Navy on a daily basis, and I want to urge parents to stop discouraging their wards from joining the military and paramilitary services.”
He therefore urged parents to encourage their children to join the military, stressing that there are employment opportunities in the military sector.
“The military has produced former President Olusegun Obasanjo, General Ibrahim Babangida, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, among many others. Parents should stop discouraging their children from joining the military, police, and other paramilitary services.”
Giving an account of his stewardship in the Red Chamber over the last year, Daniel stated that a total of 11 bills have been presented by him.
According to him, some of the bills included the Terminal Illness Trust Fund Trust, Media Practitioners Registration Council, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure Act, Border Communities Development Agency (Amendment), and the College of Aviation Technology, Ilara Remo, among others.
