The Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Salihi Magashi (Rtd) pleaded with Non-Governmental Organisations,NGOs to rise up to the task of catering and supporting the widows and orphans of fallen heroes. Gen. Magashi further applauded the work that some NGOs are already doing in rendering care and support for these group of citizens with needs.
General Magashi said this while speaking at the Ministerial Press Briefing on the 2020 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration which held at Abacha Hall, National Defence College, Abuja on 11th October, 2019.
In his words, “We appreciate the works of some Non-Governmental Organisations that have catered for these categories of citizens. It is expected that more of such organisations will rise to the challenge of addressing the needs of these special citizens.”
Speaking further on the issue, the Minister said “The efforts of the services at
the providing scholarship for the eligible children of their personnel who died
in active service up to tertiary level can be augmented by corporate
organisations operating in Nigeria to capture dependents outside the official
coverage net. This can be considered as a worthy Corporate Social
Responsibility Initiative.”
General Magashi further charged the Press to give adequate coverage of the activities marking the 2020 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration. He implores the media to air programmes that project the sacrifices of Nigerian veterans and heroes for peace, security and development of the nation and also those programmes that promote patriotism among the Nigerian youth.
