Estimated reading time: 7 minute(s)
Widows of fallen soldiers have appealed to the federal government and well-meaning Nigerians to address the issues that affect their welfare.
This call came as Nigeria marks the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day.
The Armed Forces Remembrance Day is set aside every year to celebrate serving men of the armed forces and remember those who died in the line of duty.
Speaking on their plights, some of the widows said they had been going through hardship since they lost their breadwinners.
One of the widows, Mrs Esther Augustine Ogedengbe, lamented that life had not been the same since she lost her husband.
Mrs Ogedengbe, a mother of two who lost her husband in 2015, narrated how being the breadwinner hadn’t been easy with little or no assistance from the government or elsewhere.
She said, “Widows here are really suffering; all widows. If you don’t come close to people you will not know what people are really passing through.”
Recounting the memories that come with the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, Mrs Ogbedengbe said that for most of the years she stayed in the barracks after being widowed only few of the commanders made them (widows) feel special with gifts and other moral support.
Also speaking , Mrs Linda Gabriel, said that her late husband called her a night before he paid the supreme price.
She said, “That day I fainted because my husband was my everything. I don’t have a mother, I don’t have a father. My two girls are still in primary school; life has not been easy, but I thank God.”
Mrs Tabitha John said her husband died after a protracted ailment in 2022, leaving six kids for her to fend for, adding that she was yet to access her husband’s benefits.
Mrs Lami Ajang, a mother of three, said she was yet to receive all her late husband’s entitlements, noting that, “They have paid me some money, but they have not paid all.”
Relating to the plight of the widows, Major General Cecil Esekhaigbe (Rtd), Chairman of the Centre for Wounded Service Heroes Fund, acknowledged the efforts of the government in trying to provide succour for dependents of fallen heroes.
He said, “The government has been doing its best, but you know, we have an economy that has competing needs. There are so many other sectors competing for the government’s attention.”
He added that the military had a good system of looking after families of soldiers that were dead or away through laudable welfare schemes, but noted that “this might not be enough but a reminder that they are not forgotten.”
Gen Esekhaigbe, therefore, encouraged the widows not to lose faith, but be consoled that their husbands died for the unity of the country, reminding them that the government would not forget them.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s)
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