The Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (retd.), has proposed that all Nigerians undergo military training to better understand the demands and sacrifices involved in protecting the country.

Musa made the proposal on the African Leadership Podcast with Ken Giami, released on Monday.

According to the minister, military training would expose Nigerians to the physical and mental demands faced by soldiers, including hunger, exhaustion, lack of sleep and prolonged physical exertion.

“Every Nigerian should be able to go through military training. It will give you a different perspective about life. You will now understand what it means to stay hungry and what it means to work in days without sleep,” Musa said.

He added that such training would help citizens understand the meaning of endurance and the sacrifices involved in national service.

“It will show you what endurance means when you walk kilometres and you are tired but you still need to keep on going. You have not eaten; you have not taken one because of the nature of the thing and because you are doing it to protect,” he said.

Musa compared the sacrifices of soldiers to the biblical principle of giving one’s life for another, noting that military personnel put their lives at risk to protect the country.

He also appealed to Nigerians to recognise that soldiers have families and loved ones whom they leave behind while carrying out their duties.

“And so that’s why sometimes it’s very painful when you see people insulting the military and telling them they don’t need it or we don’t want this to end. Nobody’s dying now, and they don’t want it to end,” he said.

The minister added that soldiers operate in difficult conditions, including rain, dust and darkness, while working to secure the country.

“Everybody wants peace, and that is important, so we want them to understand soldiers are fathers, brothers and sisters of people. They’ve families they’ve left behind, staying in the weather, rain, dust, night or day, staying there to ensure the country is secured,” he said.

Musa also linked increased infiltration across Nigeria’s borders to the withdrawal of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali from the regional bloc ECOWAS.

He said Nigeria was strengthening bilateral security relationships with neighbouring countries, including Cameroon, as part of efforts to secure the country’s southern borders.