THE LABOURS OF WAR VETERANS AND DEPARTED SOLDIERS MUST BE ADEQUATELY REWARDED!

ZION B-BC   NEWSLETTER.  

(Looking at Nigeria's Political System from a godly Perspective).
[VOL. 7. NO 232. 21st January, 2018.} “…ONLY The Truth, Will Set You   Free! (John.8:32).

THE LABOURS OF WAR VETERANS AND DEPARTED SOLDIERS MUST BE ADEQUATELY REWARDED!

The annual Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration in Nigeria, always marked on 15th January, was never bereft of the nostalgic reminiscences of the prowess of fallen heroes, ceremonial platitudes and re-cycled adulatory speeches by the President and Commander-in- Chief/Governors of the 36 States of the Federation to show solidarity with war veterans of the Nigerian Legion who survived past World Wars, and an internal Civil War!

Before the 30-month-Civil War caused by the failed secession bid of late Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, who declared a State of Biafra, within Eastern Nigeria, between July 1967-January 1970, Remembrance Day popularly christened, "Poppy Day" or -"11-11" was usually celebrated on 11th November, to commemorate fallen soldiers and veterans of World War I and World War II, in which Nigeria and other Commonwealth Countries participated. However, Nigeria has aptly adopted 15th January, a very significant date in the annals of Nigeria's history, when the "Biafran Troops", finally surrendered to the Nigerian Troops to signify the acceptance of permanent PEACE!

But behind the scenes and outside of the Arcade charade of laying of cenotaph wreaths by the President, Governors, Army Generals and some notable dignitaries and also, the releasing of pigeons as symbol of PEACE, the cacophony of bitter voices, complaints of absolute neglect and total abandonment of retired soldiers who are owed several months (in some cases, years), of pension arrears, non-payment of monetary entitlements to the deceased families, especially, wives and children!

Must we quickly forget the supreme sacrifices of these gallant soldiers who in the face of imminent death and without force or proscription laid down their lives during external wars and international peace-keeping operations?

Nigerian soldiers voluntarily participated in the two World Wars; they fought alongside British soldiers in Burma, India. Pakistan in defence of the Commonwealth Colonies; after independence, supported Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia etc. to maintain peace during their internal crisis and in their native land, they resisted Ojukwu's secession attempt in a long period of 30 months during which precious lives were lost on both sides irretrievably!

The Nigerian Armed Forces, comprising of the Army, Navy and Air Force, which is constitutionally saddled with the enormous duty of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation and in the maintenance of law and order through IS (Internal Security) Operations, has also been combating internal insurgency by the Islamic religious sect called Boko Haram since October, 2009 and not less than ONE MILLION lives and billions of naira worth of properties including government's strategic infrastructures, have been destroyed in the senseless war of attrition which is still ongoing in a hit-and-run tactic in the North East States of Bornu,Yobe and Adamawa!
IF THE ARMED FORCES HAD NOT BEEN UP TO THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL DUTIES OF PROTECTING NIGERIA FROM BOTH EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL AGGRESSIONS, WOULD NIGERIA STILL BE RELEVANT TO BE ADDRESSED AS AN INDEPENDENT AND NOT ANOTHER PARIAH NATION AMONG THE COMITY OF NATIONS?
Consecutive Nigerian Administrations cannot claim to appreciate the contributions of these gallant heroes to nation-building and economic development if legitimate allowances, and pensions entitlements were never remitted to the Legionnaires and surviving members of the fallen heroes as at when due?
Should there be any price too much to compensate those patriotic, committed and outstanding men of valour, whether it is monetary, economic or structural, to show our gratitude and comfort the memories of those past heroes through their surviving families, especially the WIDOWS AND ORPHANS?
Should the dead soldiers not be immortalized by both private and public organisations to encourage other patriotic citizens who are willing to lay down their lives for our good nation?
Should their welfare packages not be prioritized by government and their entitlements placed on the FIRST LINE CHARGE?
SHOULD THEIR SOULS NOT REST IN PEACE?

In a speech during the formal launching of the 2018 Emblem and Appeal Fund which preceded the Remembrance Day Celebration in Abuja, President Buhari said that Nigerians collective resolve to keep the nation as ONE indivisible and indissoluble entity was the core of the annual celebration and enjoined all and sundry to avoid issues that could ever divide the country. The President and several well-meaning leaders also solicited for voluntary support in the form of donations, employments and welfare support to the veterans and their families and also the surving families of dead soldiers!

The EMBLEMS are usually commercialized by government for the proceeds to further support Welfare Fund of the NIGERIAN LEGION who are surviving ex-servicemen of the Army, Navy and Air Force - recognized in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as members of the ARMED FORCES.

Former President and a retired Army General, Olusegun Obasanjo, once remarked that, "the aim of the celebration is to constantly remember the sacrifice the Nigerian soldiers have made, and to constantly remind ourselves that they left families behind who need to be cared and catered for and to remind us that whatever might have caused internally, what led to the loss of lives of members of our armed forces will no longer recur".

Professional hazard is a common phenomenon in virtually every endeavour or undertaking of man but that of the MILITARY is about the most fearful because they willingly signed their "death warrants" in a patriotic zeal to serve their Fatherland, Nigeria! It is therefore very imperative for the Federal Government to treat ex-service men, and surviving families of departed soldiers with greater love and empathy.

POLITICIANS EMOLUMENTS SHOULD BE REDUCED TO ALLIGN WITH THE CIVIL SERVICE SALARY GRADE!
The POLITICAL CLASS/CIVIL SERVANTS who dwell in affluence and opulence should be held responsible for dereliction and irregular payments of the Legion's entitlements, because their own SALARIES, SEVICE/SEVERANCE ALLOWANCES, PENSIONS/GRATUITIES etc, must first be taken care of and whatever is left of the "crumbs from the masters table", could then be distributed to others (including members of the Armed Forces), in the Nigerian Project! There is no NIGERIAN politician who is owed one KOBO in salary or allowances!

A lot of manipulations of figures, regular inclusions, insertions and unwholesome repetition of items of expenditure in respect of goods and services by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and through Legislators OVERSIGHTS in annual budget estimates have been discovered to be MASSIVE FORGERIES which if investigated in the current 2018 Budget Estimates, could save Nigeria a whooping sum of at least, N200 billion naira which could easily take of the needs of the downtrodden masses!

CENTRE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, (CSJ), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has challenged Civil Servants and Legislators to come out clean and remove all forgeries/paddings in the 2018 budget in order to avoid self-inflicted penury and poverty upon the innocent masses whom they claimed to be representing!
We recommend that EFCC should liaise with the NGO and fish out those responsible for the annual robbery of the nation's TREASURY! "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die." (Romans. 5:7); BUT THE FALLEN SOLDIERS DIED FOR BOTH RIGHTEOUS AND UNRIGHTEOUS NIGERIANS AND THEREFORE DESERVE OUR COLLECTIVE EMPATHY!

Ex-service men are entitled to prompt payment of their outstanding pensions and other official benefits/ entitlements in order to enjoy enhanced life-changing vocations, and lucrative business incentives, etc. So it is imperative that relevant authorities must wake up to their responsibilities to show appreciation to the dependant relatives/families of the gallant men who sacrificed their lives that Nigeria may continue its existence as a united nation.
In addition, an enhanced military welfare package as advocated by the ruling APC Government should place emphasis on living wages to compensate serving soldiers whose lives were endangered at all times, during external or internal aggressions!

NIGERIAN LEGION ARE THE SURVIVING ARMED FORCES MEN OF THE ARMY, NAVY AND AIR FORCE, WHO ARE NO LONGER IN ACTIVE SERVICE WHO SHOULD BE WELL-REMUNERATED AS AT WHEN DUE!
HOWEVER FOCUS SHOULD ALSO BE BEAMED ON DEPARTED PARAMILITARY EX-SERVICEMEN AND SURVIVING FAMILIES OF, WIDOWS AND ORPHANS OF,-THE NIGERIAN POLICE, CUSTOMS/IMMIGRATION SERVICES, STATE SECURITY SERVICE (SSS), NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (NIA), NIGERIAN SECURITY AND CIVIL DEFENCE CORPS (NSCDC), CIVILLIAN JTF, NIGERIAN PEACE CORPS, ETC.!
THEY MUST ALSO BE CELEBRATED ALONGSIDE THE SOLDIERS, AT EVERY ARMED FORCES REMEMBRANCE DAY FROM HENCEFORTH TO BALANCE THE EQUATION BECAUSE THEY ALSO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR NIGERIA AND ARE STILL DOING SO, FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE GREAT NATION! What is good for the goose is good for the gander! Gaskiya ne!

Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord. [For weekly access, to this newsletter, log on to:  facebook.com/zionfaithbible.believingchurch or http://www.zfbbc1.blogspot.com, https://www.google.com/+zionfaithbiblebelievingchurch.

If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer: Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen. If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations.

I am, yours sincerely, Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor. 08130669886, 08098194390.  08080243066. g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com.