The Federal Government has announced plans to include families of wounded and killed soldiers to the national social register as well as its poverty alleviation activities.
Dr. Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, announced this at a meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, on Monday in Abuja. Edu expressed a desire to assist the families of fallen soldiers.
She said, “We want to expand our social register to accommodate military personnel that have either been wounded or affected by war, even soldiers that left their families behind.
“We need this data from the military so that we can have it captured under the social register,” she said.
Edu stated that she was at the defence headquarters to solicit the support of the Nigerian military to tackle humanitarian crises among soldiers and across the country.
“Alleviating humanitarian crises and poverty is the top priority of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“Our preference is to discuss humanitarian crises across the nation and the need to collaborate with the military to prevent more people from falling into the humanitarian bracket.
“We also should be able to reach out effectively to those who are affected by humanitarian crises, wherever they are.
“So that our humanitarian workers should be able to reach the people wherever they are with the support of the military,” she said.
In his response, Gen. Musa assured the minister of the Nigerian military’s commitment to assisting her in carrying out the ministry’s job.
Musa, who acknowledged the connection between military operations and humanitarian help, stated that the success of any organisation directly benefits military actions.
While assuring the minister of his steadfast dedication to her humanitarian mission, the defence chief expressed confidence that the relationship would be fruitful.
