President Bola Tinubu has approved a retirement package that includes $20,000 for foreign medical treatment, bulletproof SUVs, and cooks, among other benefits, for service chiefs and army generals.

The package is contained in the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service (HTCOS) which was signed on December 14, 2024.

In line with the package, the vehicles will be replaced every four years and maintained by the military. They will also receive a Peugeot 508, or a similar backup vehicle.

Upon retirement, the generals will enjoy additional luxurious benefits, including domestic aides and residential guards. Retired lieutenant generals and their equivalents will also enjoy international and local medical treatment worth up to $20,000 annually.

Besides, each retiring service chief will get five domestic aides, including two cooks, two stewards, and a civilian gardener, plus an aide-de-camp or security officer.

The HTCOS also includes the retention of all military uniforms and accoutrements to be worn for appropriate ceremonies.

Retiring generals will also have one special assistant, who will be lieutenant, captain or equivalent or one personal assistant, who would be a warrant officer or equivalent.

They will each have a special assistant, three service drivers, and a service orderly, with escorts provided as needed.

They would also be allowed to retain their personal firearms, although these would be retrieved by the relevant service upon their demise.

The federal government also approved benefits for major generals and brigadier generals, including a Toyota Land Cruiser or equivalent vehicle, $15,000 for annual medical treatment, domestic staff, and residential guards.

Meanwhile, one-star officers will receive $10,000 annually for medical care, a Toyota Camry or equivalent vehicle, and have similar domestic and security arrangements.

Colonels and their equivalents would receive a Toyota Corolla or its equivalent, and free medical care within Nigeria.

Benefits for serving chief of defence staff and service chiefs are not specified, but it’s most likely they will receive significantly more.

However, this package has been criticised by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), and the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

The NMA president, Bala Audu, said retirement benefits given to government officials should be invested in Nigeria.

He said they should receive their medical treatment in Nigeria.

The MDCAN president, Muhammad Muhammad, called for a major overhaul of Nigeria’s healthcare system to better meet the needs of its citizens.

He said that the nation’s health system was not doing enough to provide quality care for those who needed it and that a transformation was necessary to improve health outcomes and ensure that everyone has access to the care they deserve.

According to him, the decision to provide foreign treatment for retired officers is shocking, as it implies that the local health sector may not be equipped to handle their medical needs.

Reacting, the NARD president, Tope Osundara, emphasised that medical tourism was a bane to the nation’s health sector and called for the need to address it immediately.

Meanwhile retired military personnel with lower ranks are yet to be paid their long overdue entitlement.

On Tuesday, the retired military personnel barricaded the entrance to the Ministry of Finance in Abuja with canopies and chairs, demanding the full payment of their long-overdue entitlements.

This protest follows a similar action in December, during which the retirees shut down the ministry over the government’s failure to settle their claims.

For months, the retirees were told there were no funds to clear their entitlements, despite an official approval for payment. They are owed a 20% to 28% salary increment covering January to November 2024.

The retirees are also demanding payments for other outstanding benefits, including Palliatives for the period between October 2023 and November 2024, an additional N32,000 added to their pensions, a bulk payment of the Security Debarment Allowance, and a refund of pension deductions from the salaries of medically boarded soldiers.

In response to their December protests, the Federal Government paid 50% of the owed entitlements and promised to settle the balance.

However, the retirees claim the government has failed to fulfill its promise, prompting the resumption of their protests.

At the ministry in Abuja, the retirees erected canopies and placed chairs to block the gate, effectively preventing staff from driving into the premises, and forcing many to park their vehicles outside.

See more photos from the protest