I Left Service With An Empty Bank Account – Former Chief Of Army Staff

A former Chief of Army Staff, General Ishola Williams (retired), recently shared candid insights into his life after military service.

Williams, who joined the Nigerian military in 1964, ascended the ranks to become the Commandant of Army Signals, Commander of Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), and Chief of Defence Training and Planning before retiring in July 1993.

During an interview with Trust TV’s “Reminiscences,” Williams revealed that if given the chance, he would have chosen to be born Namibian rather than Nigerian, citing Namibia’s smaller size and better organization as the reasons.

Reflecting on his transition from military to civilian life, Williams recounted how he left the army without any financial safety net or concrete plans for the future.

“I think I left on November 20 or so, 1993, and had to decide what I was going to do with myself. I left without any plan or preparation, even with an empty bank account,” he said.

He detailed the initial struggles he faced, including relying on public transportation after a donated car proved unreliable.

Friends and acquaintances offered office space and business opportunities, including cement distribution, but Williams found these options impractical due to his lack of capital.

“People offered me an office where I could sit and work for some time, while some people were trying to encourage me to be in business. One of them was trying to encourage me to be a cement distributor but I had to deposit a huge amount of money. But I had a single naira bank account, so how could I deposit a huge amount of money? There were many others like that,” he explained.

Despite receiving encouragement from some contacts in the North to engage in contracts, Williams lamented the lack of support from his own Southern compatriots, who questioned his whereabouts when others were capitalizing on financial opportunities. He had envisioned running a non-governmental organization (NGO) but struggled to secure the necessary funds to launch it.

He recounted, “Painfully, a few people in the North were ready to encourage me to engage in contracts, but my own people in the South asked where I was when my colleagues were making money. I already had it at the back of my mind that I was going to run a non-governmental organisation, but I needed money to do it. So, I told myself that if I could get a contract, I could use what I got to run the organisation. I was not interested in business for the sake of making profit. That’s how I started running this organisation.”