• Presidential media team inspects phase II of Abuja barracks project
Linus Aleke in Abuja
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) yesterday confirmed that personnel of the Armed Forces of Nigeria have started receiving their September salaries, with the approved salary increase now reflected in their payments.
The Director of Defence Information, Maj. Gen. Samaila Uba, confirmed this during a telephone chat with THISDAY in Abuja.
The development comes as the presidential media team inspected the ongoing Phase II of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Barracks project in Abuja, as the federal government intensifies its investment in military infrastructure and personnel welfare.
“The development represents the fulfilment of a promise by President Bola Tinubu to improve the welfare of military personnel. The efforts of the Minister of Defence and the Service Chiefs in consistently advocating improved welfare and better conditions of service for troops are also noteworthy,” a source said.
Meanwhile, the inspection team, led by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Chief Sunday Dare, included the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, Mr Otega Ogra.
The project, approved and funded by the President, comprises 30 blocks of family quarters, six blocks of senior officers’ accommodation, an Army club, a MAMI market, bridges, drainage systems and other essential infrastructure.
When completed, the development is expected to provide accommodation for more than 1,000 soldiers and their families, while the wider residential community is projected to serve more than 6,000 people.
Speaking during the inspection, Dare described the project as one of the tangible outcomes of the administration’s decision to redirect public resources towards infrastructure and other areas of national development following the removal of the fuel subsidy.
He said the significance of the project went beyond the buildings under construction, as it demonstrated how public resources could be transformed into lasting assets while improving the welfare of personnel responsible for defending the country.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, Ogra, highlighted the project’s economic impact, noting that its construction had created opportunities for engineers, artisans, labourers, suppliers and other service providers.
The project is part of broader efforts to strengthen the Nigerian Army’s infrastructure and welfare systems under the leadership of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu.
Similar infrastructure developments are ongoing in other parts of the country, including Ekiti, Ebonyi and Osun states, reflecting the Army’s wider effort to improve accommodation, logistics and institutional capacity.