From Service to Self-reliance: How NAFRC is Building Pathways to Enterprise, Sustainable Livelihoods

At the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC), Oshodi, Lagos, Air Vice Marshal Nnaemeka Ignatius Ilo is giving fresh impetus to the centre’s core mandate of preparing personnel for life beyond military service. Through curriculum reforms, agricultural entrepreneurship, strategic partnerships, welfare initiatives and productive use of NAFRC’s assets, all point to a broader vision of transforming resettlement from a retirement requirement into a pathway to sustainable livelihoods, enterprise and continued national contribution. Chiemelie Ezeobi reports 

For retiring military personnel, the transition from the structured environment of the Armed Forces to civilian life can be as demanding as it is inevitable. For Air Vice Marshal Nnaemeka Ignatius Ilo, the Commandant of the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC), Oshodi, Lagos, that transition requires more than routine retirement preparation. It requires deliberate investment in skills, entrepreneurship, welfare, partnerships and productive assets.

Since assuming office as the 42nd Commandant, AVM Ilo has increasingly placed post-service preparedness at the centre of his administration, while also seeking to reposition NAFRC as an institution capable of delivering relevant training and sustainable opportunities to personnel.

A spotlight on his activities in July and the first weeks of August have reflected that broad vision, ranging from engagement with personnel and private-sector partners to agricultural development, community relations and the inauguration of a new pre-discharge course.

Preparing Personnel For Life After Service

A major expression of AVM Ilo’s vision came on July 31 with the inauguration of Pre-Discharge Course 2/2026 at NAFRC. The course, designed to prepare retiring military personnel for civilian life, received 840 nominations across the Services, with 689 participants already received and documented.

The Special Guest of Honour, the General Officer Commanding 81 Division, Major General AA Babalola, urged the participants to embrace the training as a pathway to entrepreneurship, self-reliance and continued national service. He also commended NAFRC for its sustained efforts in empowering retiring personnel through vocational, entrepreneurial and life-skills training.

The Commandant, AVM Ilo, disclosed that NAFRC was strengthening its curriculum in collaboration with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), with the aim of providing industry-relevant skills and nationally recognised certifications. 

For Ilo, the objective is to make resettlement training more responsive to contemporary realities. The emphasis is increasingly on giving personnel practical skills that can translate into productive civilian careers and sustainable livelihoods after service.

The Director of Training, Brigadier General IE Akpaumontia, explained that those nominated across the Services would receive practical and theoretical training in vocational, technical and entrepreneurial disciplines, alongside entrepreneurship development, counselling and industrial attachment.

Taking Agriculture Beyond Training

Agriculture has emerged as one of the key areas through which AVM Ilo intends to expand the centre’s resettlement and empowerment programme.

During a recent courtesy visit to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, in Abuja, he revealed that about 80 per cent of participants undergoing resettlement training had expressed interest in agricultural entrepreneurship.

To support this interest, NAFRC has acquired 40 hectares of land to expand its agricultural training programme. Ilo sought the ministry’s assistance with technical training, modern equipment, extension services and policy guidance.

The proposed partnership is intended to link training with practical opportunities, while also contributing to food security and sustainable livelihoods.

Senator Kyari, while expressing the ministry’s readiness to work closely with NAFRC, encouraged the centre to organise beneficiaries into cooperative societies to enable them to access government intervention programmes and agricultural support schemes. 

He also advised NAFRC to outline and forward its areas of interest in the initiative so that the ministry could provide appropriate technical and institutional support in line with existing agricultural policies.

Turning Epe Land into a Productive Asset

The agricultural vision took a more concrete form during Ilo’s inspection of NAFRC’s landed property in Epe on August 11.

The Commandant directed that an economic farm be established on the property, with cassava and economic trees among the proposed crops. He also ordered arrangements for a borehole to provide water for farming and future development.

Ilo explained that the acquisition of the land was intended, among other purposes, to facilitate the gradual relocation of some departments and activities of the centre from its Oshodi headquarters to Epe. 

Reforming the Centre From Within

On July 21, Ilo met separately with military and civilian personnel, where he stressed discipline, professionalism and commitment to duty, urging them to uphold the core values of the Armed Forces.

He cautioned personnel to comply with the Armed Forces’ social media policy and urged military personnel to remain loyal to constituted authorities, patriotic to the nation and apolitical in line with military ethics, particularly ahead of forthcoming elections. Civilian staff, he said, should exercise their constitutional right to participate in the electoral process.

For civilian staff, he announced salary increments for employees who had served the centre for more than five years and directed that essential medicines be provided free of charge to those not covered by NHIF, pending efforts to integrate them into the scheme.

He also addressed career progression, pensions, allowances, manpower development and working conditions.

The commandant further announced a review of the training curriculum to strengthen entrepreneurship-focused training and plans to establish cooperatives that would enable personnel to benefit from agricultural intervention programmes.

Building Strategic Partnerships

Ilo’s approach has also extended beyond government institutions. On July 23, Spectra Industries Limited visited NAFRC to explore stronger collaboration in training, research and human capacity development.

Leading the delegation, the Chief Operations Officer of Spectra Industries Limited, Mr. Odebiyi Oluwaseyi, said the visit was aimed at strengthening the existing relationship between both organisations and exploring opportunities for greater collaboration. 

In turn, the commandant reaffirmed NAFRC’s commitment to partnering reputable organisations to enhance its training programmes and expand opportunities for personnel undergoing resettlement and professional development.

Deepening Community Relations

The commandant also sought to deepen NAFRC’s longstanding relationship with the Mushin Local Government Council, recognising that the centre’s role extends beyond its gates to the community in which it operates.

During his courtesy visit to the Executive Chairman of Mushin Local Government, Honourable Tunbosun Haruna Aruwe, Ilo  called on the council to encourage more youths to take advantage of the centre’s vocational training programmes, while reaffirming the centre’s commitment to youth empowerment and community service.

Honourable Aruwe, in turn, commended the longstanding partnership between Mushin Local Government and NAFRC, highlighting the centre’s contributions to the community through medical outreach services, security support, driver training and the donation of healthcare facilities.

Rewarding Discipline and a Better Living Environment

Ilo’s reform agenda also encompasses the environment in which personnel live and train. On August 12, he rewarded winners of NAFRC’s Second Quarter Inter-Block Competition, which involved more than 40 residential blocks. The exercise covered cleanliness, maintenance, structural condition, environmental management and innovative value-added projects.

CBQ Block S emerged overall winner with a ₦1 million cash prize, while CBQ Block T and Brigadier General AO James Block placed second and third, receiving ₦600,000 and ₦400,000 respectively.

Presenting the awards, AVM Ilo congratulated the winning blocks and urged them to sustain the standards that earned them recognition. 

A Broader Resettlement Vision

From curriculum reform and vocational training to agriculture, cooperatives, partnerships, welfare, community service and productive asset development, AVM Ilo is indeed positioning the centre around a central objective: preparing personnel not simply to leave military service, but to enter the next phase of their lives with relevant skills, confidence and sustainable means of livelihood.