*Orders establishment of full dept of veteran affairs
Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari weekend ordered officials of the Ministry of Defence to commence the process of modelling the Ministry of Defence after the Pentagon in the United States.
In line with the directive, defence ministry officials said at the weekend that plans were concluded to model the Ministry of Defence (MoD) after the Pentagon.
President Buhari also directed that a full department of veterans affairs be set up to cater for and provide medical services to injured military personnel, education for the children of wounded and fallen soldiers.
Pentagon is a large, five-sided building in Virginia, United States that serves as headquarters of the US Department of Defence including all three military services, notably the army, navy and the air force.
Speaking in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Dr. Ibrahim Kana, said the ministry was mandated by President Buhari to model the defence ministry after the Pentagon in the United States.
He said the new policy directive entailed the deployment of military and civilian personnel to work in the ministry.
The new model would also see the deployment of military officers to be part of policy making in the Ministry of Defence.
“We have been mandated to make the Ministry of Defence the Pentagon of Nigeria. We are to have military personnel and civilians working together.
“We are discussing the deployment of military officers to be part of policy making in the Ministry of Defence”, he said.
“The president has given approval for reform of the Ministry of Defence into our own Pentagon, in this case there will be deployment of senior military officers working alongside civilian staff.
“My role as a permanent secretary will not be directly involved in operations but we will handle the policy aspect of the Ministry of Defence to ensure the best for our troops and the veterans and people that have fought war for Nigeria, the president has given an approval for a whole department of veterans services, so I believe better days are ahead”.
He expressed confidence that the war against insurgency would soon come to an end and restated the determination of the ministry to provide the requirements to end the hostilities.
He said President Buhari provided “100 percent” the needs of the ministry in terms of procurement of arms and ammunition and other military hardware required to prosecute the war.
On the veterans department he said the president gave approval for the creation of a full department in the ministry.
“We are hoping that the war is coming to an end but we hope to provide the needful for success. The president has provided 100 percent of the needs of the ministry in terms of arms, trucks among others.
“The president gave the approval for the creation of a full department of veterans affairs in the ministry of defence”, he said.
He said the department is expected to provide medical services to injured military personnel, education for the children of wounded and fallen soldiers among other functions.
In her remarks during the meeting, the Director Press, Federal Ministry of Defence, Mrs, Victoria Agba Attah, said Dr. Ibrahim Kana wanted to extend a hand of fellowship to the media while calling on the media to help inform the public of the ministry’s activities on defence matters.
