■ “Royal Perks in a Broke Republic: Rethinking Nigeria’s New Retirement Package for Generals”
When President Bola Tinubu signed the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service (HTACOS) 2024 for the Armed Forces, most Nigerians barely noticed the technical name. But buried in that document is one of the most generous – some would say excessive – retirement packages for a handful of ex-service chiefs anywhere in the democratic world. 
And it throws up a brutal question: who is Nigeria really rewarding – the institution, or a tiny elite at the top?
What Tinubu Just Approved for Ex-CDS and Service Chiefs
According to the published HTACOS 2024 benefits, a retired Chief of Defence Staff or Service Chief is now entitled to all the following for life:
At least five domestic aides
Two service cooks
Two stewards
One civilian gardener
Aide-de-camp and security officer
Personal assistant / special assistant
Either a commissioned officer (up to Captain) or a senior NCO (up to Warrant Officer)
Three service drivers
One service orderly
A “standard guard unit” of nine soldiers permanently assigned to protect them
Personal firearms retained in retirement, to be retrieved by the military only on death.
Lifetime medical care in Nigeria and abroad, including a foreign medical allowance reportedly around $20,000 per year in some versions of the package
A bulletproof SUV, fully maintained by the Service, replaced every four years
A backup vehicle (often described as a Prado Jeep or Peugeot 508 or equivalent)
On top of that, they still receive:
Gratuity and pension,
Disengagement benefits, and
Other monetary perks already due under existing regulations.
This is not a pension. It’s a state-funded quasi-monarchy – guards, cars, staff, and medical tourism, for life.
How Do Other Countries Treat Their Top Generals?
To see how unusual this is, you have to look at how big, serious militaries in other democracies handle their own four-star officers.
United States
In the US, a four-star general under the High-36 or Blended Retirement System gets a lifetime pension calculated as a percentage of the highest 36 months of base pay (roughly 70–80% for a full career), plus TRICARE health care and other veteran benefits.
But:
They do not get a permanent unit of soldiers assigned as private guards.
They do not get government-funded domestic staff.
They do not get bulletproof SUVs on four-year replacement cycles.
The only people in the US who come close to that kind of lifetime support are former presidents, under the Former Presidents Act – with staff, office, security from the Secret Service – not retired service chiefs.
United Kingdom
In the UK, the Chief of Defence Staff earns a high salary while in office and then retires onto a gold-plated public service pension. For example, former CDS Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup reportedly received a lump sum of over £400,000 and an annual pension of about £140,000, comparable to the prime minister’s salary.
But again:
No lifetime domestic aides paid by the Ministry of Defence.
No platoon of soldiers permanently stationed at his home.
No official bulletproof convoy as a retirement right.
If there is a credible threat, security is handled by police, not by detaching active-duty troops to babysit a retired officer.
India
India is a better comparator for Nigeria: large, developing, with a long military tradition.
Under the 7th Central Pay Commission, the Chief of Army Staff sits at the apex Level 18 pay band with a fixed basic salary of ₹2,50,000 per month, plus allowances. 
On retirement, Indian chiefs get:
Defined pensions based on pay matrix
Access to military medical facilities (ECHS)
Canteen and veteran benefits
But not:
Lifetime domestic staff on the army payroll
Permanent at-home guard units
Privately assigned bulletproof SUVs as a right
Other Democracies
In South Africa, Kenya, Brazil and similar mid-income states, retired generals get pensions, healthcare access and protocol respect. But there is no concept of a personal mini-battalion plus full-time domestic staff funded indefinitely.
Across the democratic world, the pattern is consistent:
Pension + healthcare: yes
Occasional or threat-based security: maybe, via police
Standing guard unit + domestic aides + cars for life: no
On that metric, HTACOS 2024 puts Nigeria’s ex-service chiefs in a league of their own – closer to former heads of state than to mere retired officers.
Now Look at What Nigerian Serving Officers Actually Get
While a handful of retired top generals are being locked into VIP status for life, the benefits for serving officers and rank-and-file tell a very different story.
Salaries
Recent published tables of Nigerian Army pay show the following monthly salaries for commissioned officers: 
Second Lieutenant – ₦120,000
Lieutenant – ₦180,000
Captain – ₦220,000
Major – ₦300,000
Lieutenant Colonel – ₦350,000
Colonel – ₦550,000
Brigadier General – ₦750,000
Major General – ₦950,000
Lieutenant General – ₦1,000,000
General – ₦1,500,000
Non-commissioned officers:
Private – around ₦50,000
Corporal – ₦60,000
Sergeant – ₦70,000
Staff Sergeant – ₦80,000, rising up to ₦180,000 for an Army Warrant Officer.
That’s before inflation tears into it.
Allowances
After heavy criticism, the Chief of Army Staff recently doubled troops’ Ration Cash Allowance from ₦1,500 to ₦3,000 per day, effective from March 2025.
It’s an improvement – but in real terms many soldiers are still living tight, especially those on internal operations for months on end.
Welfare and Housing
The Army has launched an Affordable Housing Ownership Option for All Soldiers, with 400 housing units built at Idu, Abuja, and 5% reserved for wounded-in-action. The COAS has acknowledged that many Warrant Officers do not own a home and wants the scheme to change that.
Good idea, but 400 units in a force of tens of thousands is token, not transformation.
Meanwhile, ex-service chiefs under HTACOS are guaranteed:
Multiple vehicles
Lifelong maintenance
Full domestic staffing
Foreign medical allowances
All funded by the same defence budget that struggles to house ordinary soldiers.
The Equity Problem
When you set HTACOS 2024 against international practice and against conditions for serving Nigerian troops, three hard truths stand out:
■ Nigeria’s ex-service chiefs are being treated, in retirement, better than most democratic states treat their top generals.
In countries like the US, UK, France or India, even a four-star officer gets a strong pension and healthcare, not a taxpayer-funded court of cooks, drivers, guards and luxury vehicles for life.
■ The gap between what a handful at the top receive and what the average officer or NCO gets is staggering.
A retired CDS will sit on lifetime benefits worth many tens of millions of naira every few years just in vehicle rotation and staffing costs, while a serving Captain on ₦220,000/month worries about rent, school fees and deployment risks.
■ It sends the wrong signal inside the military and to the public.
When ordinary veterans are protesting unpaid pensions and arrears, and serving troops are celebrating just to have their feeding allowance doubled to ₦3,000/day, it is hard to justify a nine-man guard unit and permanent convoy for someone who has left office.
It doesn’t encourage service; it encourages careerism at the top and resentment at the bottom.
If Nigeria Wants a Professional Military, This Is Backwards
If the stated goal is to “encourage the military to do its constitutional duty”, then the logic should be simple:
Pay everyone decently and on time.
Guarantee fair pensions and medical care for all ranks.
Invest heavily in housing, family support, and post-service transition.
That is what the UK, US and India broadly do – even with their own flaws.
■ “Lavish for the Few, Lean for the Many: The Hard Truth About Nigeria’s Military Benefits”
Instead, Nigeria has chosen to create a lifetime aristocracy of a few ex-service chiefs, while serving officers and soldiers operate under strain, underpaid in real terms, and under-supported in welfare.
A more rational, defensible structure would:
Scrap or drastically cut back lifetime domestic aides, guard units and flashy vehicle packages.
Fold the savings into across-the-board improvements: better housing, proper healthcare networks, death-in-service benefits and solid pensions for all ranks.
Align senior officers’ retirement benefits with global democratic norms: strong financial security, yes – but no private feudal armies.
Until that happens, HTACOS 2024 will stand as a textbook case of upside-down priorities: military elites living like royalty, while the people who actually fight – and die – for the country are told to be content with a bump in feeding allowance and token housing schemes.
Dr. Imran Khazaly
The National Patriots.
Headlinenews.news Special Investigative Report.
