Every retired military personnel you see out there as good as took a bullet and nursed life - threatening wounds he or she took for you at one time or the other. They kept vigil for you watching over your communities and territorial borders. They ward off external aggression and internal rebellion to keep you safe and to guarantee you have a sound sleep at night. They subject themselves to so much turmoil and travails on your behalf, all to ensure you have a sane atmosphere in which to thrive, excel in all your endeavours if you would and to exhale. Take them off the streets and borders for an hour and see what hell would be unleashed on you and your nation by criminals of all shades.
They are men and women who lose their sleep to give you sleep. They put themselves in perilous circumstances to ensure you are wild and free. They deny themselves of enjoyment so you can party and shake it down as you will unperturbed by the wiles of criminals. These men and women toil endlessly in dangerous terrains and missions you would not dare tread in just to ensure you have a country that is free from external aggression. They are the reason you can dream lofty dreams and seek a means in a peaceful atmosphere to birth them and to self-actualize in the professions. Take them out and welcome the reign of beasts, vagabonds and villains.
The need to accord these men and women of valour due respect and honour cannot be overemphasized.
This series attempts a comprehensive x-ray of issues affecting the welfare of this select class of senior citizens treated with levity and made to go through harrowing experiences out there. It is in four parts. This is just an introduction. The entire story is laced with critical leads for journalists to follow up on developments in this respect.
Quite unfortunately, men and women of valour who deserve to be accorded the best treatment everywhere they go and decorated with garlands of exotic flowers by their fellow compatriots are cheated of their legitimate stipends by fellow serving officers and civilians. In fact, this series will reveal the inter-ministerial syndicate consisting of civilians and serving soldiers in the Ministry of Defense, the Military Pension Board, the national assembly and the Federal Ministry of Finance behind the travails of our retired senior citizens.
Let me state point blank without equivocation that these men and women are robbed
of their entitlements and it has been so for decades. The problem is compounded by what amount to creating a conducive atmosphere for them to be fleeced every month. Thieves in those bodies are smiling to the banks while they are left to suffer.
One of the factors that provides a congenial atmosphere for the rogues to operate has to do with the fact that issues bordering on pension and the computation as well as government policy directives communicated via circulars and executive orders are shrouded in secrecy and retired personnel are kept in the dark.
I can tell you without mincing words that retired military officers do not know their entitlements and many have been going home with less than they ought to have been paid. Even if it is only One Hundred Naira that is stolen on a monthly basis from these men and women, it amounts to very huge sums of money. In many instances, there are humonguous illegal deductions without explanations. Presidential directives are disregarded by these thieves and pension money misappropriated by the handlers.
Apart from errors of ommission and commission, fraud is written so legibly all over the
transactions relating to military pension. The truth is that having been made to wait for days on end with repeated empty promises from the authorities, it often seems like rain from heaven on a dry land ruled by the scorching sun for ages and a welcome relief when little out of their entitlement is paid.
It is indeed criminal and wicked to allow these men and women wallow in penury. Several salary reviews have often not reflected enhanced pension earnings for these men and women. There are often no corresponding adjustments for inflationary pressure to enable them retain a decent lifestyle.
Even when they seek to meet with the authorities including the legislature, they are
treated with disdain and outright disregard for their person and shooed. Where they
succeed in getting audience, their complaints are dumped in the dustbin and nothing is
done about them.
Is it not a shameful thing that even senior officers left with no choice have had to embark on street protests to draw the attention of Nigerians and organs of the state to their plight? Why do they deserve to be treated so badly and left to die?
The other day, just last year, a retired colonel who had put in over 30 years in perilous service to his fatherland went to Abuja over pension issues so he could get money for his treatment. He died in that mission. So many more have died.
To make matters worse, these men and women are made to expend the little money they have left to travel all the way to Abuja where they have to spend on accommodation and feeding for days just for documentation and simple inquiries that could be delivered efficiently through technology.
A visit to the Military Pension Board website will make you weep. It is shorn of vital information but dorns the ugly faces of the last set of service chiefs and there is no information that matters that all military pensioners should access with ease. There is nothing about their actual entitlements or parameters for computation. That website ought to be a rich resource for these men and women who had wrought tirelessly through avoidable dangers to protect us all. It is such a shame!
This is just a tip of the iceberg. The next article in the series will focus on the scam and the villains and why the scam thrives and measures that should be put in place by this government to curb the evil tide. You shall be presented with statistics and documentary evidence to buttress salient points presented.
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