The Nigerian Legion, an umbrella body of the ex-servicemen in the country, has called on the federal government to comply with the Section 11 of the Act establishing it with a view to including it in the country’s annual budget.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja preparatory to this years Armed Forces Remembrance Day on January 15, the National Chairman, Major General Abdulmalik Jibril (retd), said since the establishment of the Nigerian Legion in 1964, the FG had observed its budgetary allocations in breaches.
According to him, the paucity of funds in the Nigerian Legion had hampered the welfare and wellbeing of the widows, orphans and other dependants of the fallen heroes, as well as the day to day running of the Legion.
General Jibril noted that the responsibility of catering for the dependants of the fallen heroes squarely rested on the shoulders of the Nigerian Legion as the umbrella body overseeing the general welfare of the ex service men, a function which it has not diligently discharged due to lack of funding.
He commended President Bola Tinubu who “launched the Remembrance Emblem on the October 25, 2023”, which he said “kick-started the going round to sensitise the general public and to appeal to them to donate generously to the course of the fallen heroes for the purpose of taking care of their widows, orphans and all those who depend on our fallen heroes as breadwinners.”
He called on Nigerians not to forget the efforts of the armed forces who keep the country safe, and ensure that the citizens sleep with eyes closed, adding that the citizens owed it a duty to reciprocate in remembering and also maintaining the families left behind by the fallen heroes.
He further said, “As you may know Nigerian Legion was established in 1964. We are 60 years old. Even though the act provides that the federal government should fund the organisation but unfortunately there has never been any funding extended to the Nigerian Legion.
“So the issue of funding the Nigerian Legion is still subsisting, it is now that I took over as the chairman that I’m making effort to see if section 11 of the Act which said the federal government should credit the account of the Nigerian Legion or its administration certain amount every year.
“That has never happened. Nigerians legion has not even got the take off grant that is necessary for any organisation that is established by government to establish office environment,” Jubril lamented.