LAGOS/Nigeria: The Lagos State Government is turning to its grassroots administrative network to expand youth participation in military recruitment, directing secretaries across its 57 local government and local council development areas to mobilise 100 eligible applicants each.
The exercise is expected to generate 5,700 prospective candidates, as the state seeks to address its persistent difficulty in meeting its military recruitment allocation.
Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, announced the directive at a meeting with the council secretaries in Lagos, urging them to identify and encourage residents aged between 18 and 26 to apply.
She said Lagos had been allocated 420 places in the ongoing recruitment exercise but needed to intensify its mobilisation efforts to achieve the target.
“If each secretary brings at least 100 candidates, there is no way we won’t meet 400,” she said.
Beyond the recruitment exercise, the meeting addressed security concerns, preparations for forthcoming elections and the need to prevent violence during the ember months.
Salu-Hundeyin warned young people against allowing political activities to draw them into thuggery or electoral violence, stressing that elections should provide citizens with an opportunity to choose their leaders peacefully.
“Election is not war. It is your right to determine who should govern you, and you don’t need violence,” she said.
She also urged residents to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities, encouraging the public to embrace the principle of “see something, say something”.
The SSG said local government secretaries occupied an important position in the state’s administrative structure because of their proximity to communities and their responsibility to connect government policies with residents’ needs.
She charged them to monitor developments in their respective areas, identify challenges requiring government attention and ensure that issues beyond the capacity of local authorities were referred to the appropriate state institutions.
Chairman of the Lagos State Body of Secretaries to Local Governments, Mr Kunle Olambiwonnu, assured the government that the officials would implement the directive.
He said the secretaries would work with traditional and community leaders, including Baales, Community Development Committees (CDCs) and Community Development Associations (CDAs), to encourage eligible youths to participate in the recruitment process.
Olambiwonnu said the engagement would also address concerns among parents and young people who might be reluctant to consider military service because they associate it exclusively with deployment to the battlefield.
He explained that the meeting formed part of the periodic consultations between the SSG and the 57 council secretaries, which provide a platform for discussing governance, security and other issues affecting communities across Lagos State.
