Again, army laments low South-East enrolment

The Nigerian Army has expressed concern over what it described as the low level of enrolment from the South-East in the ongoing recruitment, revealing that Anambra recorded only 117 applicants out of 38,000 applications received nationwide.

This was disclosed during a sensitisation event held at the Ministry of Youths’ office in Awka, the state capital.

The leader of the army delegation to sensitise youths in Awka, Brig.-Gen. Uche Nnabuihe, said the figure was recorded as of April 7, before the commencement of a nationwide awareness campaign for the 91 Regular Recruits Intake.

Sunday PUNCH gathered that in April 2025, the Nigerian Army had raised concerns over the poor enrolment of South-East youths in its recruitment exercise.

The leader of the 2025 army recruitment enlightenment team, Chima Ekeator, had said the South-East was gradually losing out on what was rightfully theirs.

Speaking during a town hall meeting in Enugu, Ekeator said out of 200 slots allocated to South-East states in last year’s recruitment, the region barely recorded 100 applications.

“Our people are losing what rightly belongs to them. Each year, whenever a slot is being allocated to our people, we keep noticing that the number of applicants from our side is usually very poor,” Ekeator said. Punch