The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has expressed concern over the poor remuneration of military personnel and security agents confronting insurgency and banditry in the north.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Mr Ndume lamented that a private in the Nigerian Army earned just N50,000 monthly until the recent review by President Bola Tinubu, which increased the salary to N104,000. 

He argued that the revised wage remains grossly inadequate given the enormous risks security operatives face daily.

“How can you pay someone N50,000 or even N100,000 and expect him to give his best?” the senator asked. 

“A private in the American system earns over $2,000 monthly, but our men are being asked to die for a country that does not equip or pay them properly.”

He noted that until Mr Tinubu’s administration reviewed their pay in 2023, privates in the Nigerian Army, as well as personnel of the SSS and police, were among the lowest-paid security operatives in the world.

“How much is N50,000? It is just about $35 a month. It means an average soldier was being paid less than $2 per day. Even at N104,000, how do you expect someone on that salary to put in their best? 

“If you look at immigration or civil defence, the same thing is compared to what I’m being paid. For me, if they are going to pay more than what I’m being paid now. If you say I should go to Kebbi to go and work, I will not go. I don’t want to die like that. So, how do you expect people to put in their best,” Mr Ndume said. 

The senator stated that Nigeria’s persistent security failures stem largely from the country’s inability to deploy modern technology to track criminals in real time. 

He attributed the challenge to an inadequate national satellite system and a lack of investment in surveillance capabilities.

“One of the fundamental problems we have is that we don’t have the ability to track criminals in real time. Nigeria has only four satellites, and one is even having issues.

“They are not enough to address our security challenges. Why are we unable to trace the general who went missing in action? It’s because we don’t have an adequate tracking system,” the senator said.