Aisha Muhammad

Abdullahi Muhammed Abubakar, 44, Businessman

Kabir, Teacher

Idon’t support more funding for the Nigerian Army because trillions of naira was budgeted for the fight against Boko Haram and for other insecurity issues, but yet the terrorists wax stronger. What needs to be done is to ensure the money meant for security is not diverted and is spent judiciously. A lot of soldiers were complaining of non-payment of their welfare, and their money was budgeted and disbursed. Why didn’t it get to them?

So, I advocate for the setting up of a monitoring team in order to make sure money budgeted for security is judiciously spent.

The issue is not that of funding alone, but also the need for the military personnel welfare to be taken into consideration. Judging from what we have been hearing, Nigerian soldiers’ welfare, especially that of lower ranks, is very poor.

Let the soldiers be motivated, let there be a good package for any national hero and let soldiers have the belief that if they die their families will not suffer. When all these have been done, then we can talk of funding the military to fight for the nation. I believe with or without good weapons, soldiers wouldn’t fight effectively if they know that if they die on the battlefield it means doom for their families. However, the funding is equally vital, as we are all aware, the Nigerian army needs more funding to acquire modern weapons.