A Lifeline for Armed Forces’ Veterans, Widows and Orphans

A Lifeline for Armed Forces’ Veterans, Widows and Orphans

By Abdulsalam Mahmud

There is a reason why every January 15 is special for many Nigerians. It is the day set aside for commemorating the Armed Forces Remembrance Day. Also called Remembrance Day, the occasion honours Nigerian veterans of World War I and II, as well as the 1967-1970 Civil War.

On the remembrance day, it is expected that citizens will soberly reflect on the significance of the armed forces to the country. But it seems that nothing has been done beyond celebrating the day, to addressing the plight of our retired military personnel, their families and loved ones.

Families, wives and children of our fallen heroes have in, recent years, not gotten a better deal from the nation, which their breadwinners patriotically sacrificed their lives, and every other thing for. For many of them, life has not been the same again since the demise of their beloved husbands, fathers, brothers and sons.

Tales of many of them living in abject squalor and misery are replete. As for the surviving war veterans and many retired soldiers of the Nigerian military, it seems their meritorious service to their fatherland was not appreciated, hence they always battle to receive their pension and gratuities.

Sometime in January last year, some retired soldiers under the Coalition of Concerned Veterans, CCV, protested the nonpayment of their pension arrears, since January 2020. The veterans who (then) gathered at the Ministry of Finance headquarters, Abuja, insisted on getting answers to their demands, vowing to continue protesting and demanding for their rights, according to a report published by Sahara Reporters.

They were seen with placards carrying inscriptions such as “CCV demands immediate payment of security debarment allowance.” Another reads, “Military veterans demand 24 months arrears of minimum wage approved.”

A banner which contained a comprehensive list of the demands, according to the Sahara Reporters’ story, reads, “Immediate payment of 24 months outstanding arrears of minimum wage as approved by the C-IN-C. Immediate payment of security debarment allowance (S.D.A) as approved by MAFA Section V Page 98 without discrimination.

“Inhuman reduction from the medically boarded veterans remuneration to be stopped forth with. N.H.I.S National Health Insurance Scheme should be reviewed to cover essential/serious ailments of the veterans. “Enough of no cash backing slogan on veterans’ entitlement.”

The leader of the CCV, while lamenting the government’s seeming ‘indifference’ to their travails during the demonstration, said: “We are not here to joke, we are old people who served this country when we were still young, when we had strength, now that we are done with service, the Nigerian government decided to abandon us. All our entitlements, they refused to pay us. We wrote letters, tried doing other things to ensure we got our demands met but they didn’t heed.

“During Sallah; we even went to the Minister’s house because I am based in Kano; we went to the Minister’s house on a visit and he said he didn’t want to see us. We began to ask questions, is he not also one of us? He’s also a retired soldier, why will he refuse to see us? For three days, we were there, how could he be possibly engaged for three days in his own house?

“We are his primary responsibility, there’s nothing that should make him say he doesn’t want to see us. To our demands: the minimum wage President Buhari signed in 2019, they haven’t paid us the arrears, there’s another thing called debarment allowance, they haven’t paid us.

“The debarment allowance is supposed to be paid to all military men that have served in the past whether in the Army, Air Force or whatsoever, so we can go and settle ourselves, this will not make criminals recruit trained soldiers to build houses and all but they refused to pay us all, they paid some people but not all.

“The past Chief of Defence Staff was the one who caused confusion and when we cried, we were invited, a committee was set up, the committee members did their job and came up with a report but we haven’t heard anything since then and you know that this government will soon end; so this is the opportunity we have that one of our own; Muhammadu Buhari, and the minister, National Security Adviser; and some members of the parliament are retirees like us.”

Like always, I keep on asking: why must the families, wives and children of our fallen heroes, together with retired military personnel, suffer before getting entitlements that statutorily accrue to them as a result of their loved ones’ transition or exit from service?

The Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Gen. Christopher Musa, within a brief spell as Defence Chief, has already demonstrated premium commitment to improving the welfare of serving officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The need for him to also look into the welfare of the families of our legioneers and fallen troops, at a difficult time like this, cannot be overemphasized.

The prevailing economic hardship has only worsened their living conditions, which hitherto had been terrible. Like several other Nigerians, many of our former military personnel/legioneers and families of our slain troops who have been finding it difficult to get their monthly pension and other entitlements, cannot tell where their next meal will come from, even as paying their wards/children’s school fees is like climbing Mountain Everest.

This is unacceptable. Something needs to be done. The General CG Musa-led Defence Headquarters, DHQ, must ensure that all pension, gratuity and death benefits’ arrears of our ex-military personnel are cleared forthwith. The military authorities should also ensure prompt payment of the aforementioned welfare package for our senior military citizens and fallen troops.

The DHQ should also do more to financially and educationally empower the wives and children of not only our slain military personnel, but retired soldiers that life has been dealing a knockout punch. If possible, a Trust Fund that will help mobilize resources for their basic upkeep and sustenance can be established by the federal government, through the Ministry of Defence.

Specifically, gifted children of our fallen heroes, scattered across our military barracks nationwide, can be awarded full academic scholarships at the Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, and various Army, Navy, Air Force primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, while it is expected that the leadership of our Armed Forces, together with groups such as the Defence Police Officers Wives’ Association, DEPOWA, and the Nigerian Army Officers Wives’ Association, NAOWA, among others, will continue to sponsor vocational training and skills acquisition programs for widows and unemployed relations of departed military personnel, like they have been doing.

Indeed, the death of our soldiers in active service to their fatherland, or quitting the armed forces without having any fortune to fall back on, can be devastating. But if the military authorities can guarantee the implementation of the recommendations highlighted above and others not captured herein, then our armed forces’ veterans, widows and children will just be getting another lifeline.

*Mahmud is the Deputy Editor of PRNigeria, and wrote in via: [email protected].*