By Sumaila Ogbaje
The National Chairman, Nigeria Legion, retired Maj.-Gen. Abdulmalik Jibril, has commended the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya for creating opportunities for legionnaires to have exposure to foreign special training.
Jibril, in a statement by Mr Henry David, Principal Information Officer, Ministry of Information and Culture, on Wednesday also thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for his continuous support for military veterans.
He said the COAS had recently sponsored some legionnaires on a five-day training at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at Michigan, United State to have physical accessibility to their foreign veterans counterpart to share experiences.
Jubril said that one of the cardinal objectives of the legion was to maintain membership of International World War Veteran Organizations striving for world peace, disarmament and detente as well as other Non-Governmental Organisations with similar aims and objects.
He added that the international exposure would reposition the Nigeria legion to engage in suitable undertakings for the training, employment and settlement of ex-servicemen as well as education of their children.
Director of Corporate Affairs, Nigeria Legion, Morenike Henry, also thanked the COAS and President Buhari for supporting the legion to reposition itself towards fulfilling its mandate of providing training for veterans among other things.
According to her, the legion will be able to engage in suitable activities for the training, employment and settlement of ex-servicemen and the education of their children as they engage relevant authorities for more coordination and support.
The Director, Veteran Affairs, Nigeria Army, Maj.-Gen. MT Durowaiye, who led the Nigerian veterans team said the team toured the centre and got socialised with the veterans at the centre.
Durowaiye said the veterans were able to have idea of transitional housing, veteran rescue program, life skills , employment training , health care services , transportation/meals/clothing ,substance abuse intervention and housing placement.
He added that the team was able to interact with some of the U.S. veterans.
According to him, it was a great experience as the team also learned about the process of bringing in the veterans from the street and processing them into the safety. (NAN)
