Senator Gbenga Daniel, a former Governor of Ogun State, on Tuesday in Abeokuta bemoaned the low rate of enlistment of people from the South West of Nigeria into the military and paramilitary services.
The representative of Ogun East Senatorial District said this during an event, themed: “Dialogue with Journalists.”
It was organised by the Ogun Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists.
Daniel said the South West was seriously lagging behind in numbers in the military.
He said: “The South West is lagging behind in enlistment into the military and paramilitary, especially the Navy and Police.”
Daniel, popularly referred to as OGD, is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Navy.
He urged parents to stop discouraging their wards from joining the military and police.
The former governor said: “The military service, which was labelled as a job suitable only for the ‘miscreants’ by parents in the 1960s and 1970s, has produced leaders in both politics and economy in the country.
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“As the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Navy and a member of Senate Committee on Police Affairs, it is painful to see few candidates from the South West expressing interest in enlisting into the Navy and the police.”
The lawmaker said parents must endeavour to encourage and motivate their children to pursue careers in the military.
Daniel pointed out that individuals who were brave enough to join the military before and after Nigeria’s independence in 1960 were the ones directly and indirectly controlling the country’s affairs now.
He said: “We were discouraged from enlisting in the military by our parents and grandparents, tagging it as a job for the miscreants in the society.
“As the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Navy, I have seen at first hand our people’s lackadaisical approach to the 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.”
On his stewardship in the last one year in the Senate, Daniel said he had presented no fewer than 11 bills, and disclosed that he is a member of 14 other Senate Committees.
He listed some of the bills he presented to include those on the College of Aviation Technology in Ilara Remo, Terminal Illness Trust Fund and Media Practitioners Registration Council.
Others include Border Communities Development Agency (Amendment) and National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure Act.
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