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Agwai assures retired soldiers of better life
By Ben Duru
Correspondent, Owerri
Chief of Army Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai, has said
the army is now set to ensure that retired military personnel do not live in
penury as was the case in the past.
In Owerri, Imo State at the foundation laying of a housing
scheme at the 34 Artillery Brigades, Obinze as part of the event to mark 2004
Chief of Army Staff Conference, he said the time when the welfare of military
men are abandoned was gone.
He said the army hierarchy is doing its best to ensure that
the military assumes its leadership positions within Africa and the West Coast
and that this could not be achieved without putting into perspective the
welfare of those doing the job.
He said it is the desire of the military authorities to give
every member of the force a sense of belonging and that the government was
doing everything to ensure that the military is repositioned.
He, therefore charged the personnel to stick to the dictates
of their profession bearing in mind that their welfare is being taken care of
at all times and that the reposition of the military to become the best is been
pursued with vigour.
He said the housing scheme would have 30 per cent of them
handed over to the civilian populace and expressed the hoped that the cordial
relationship between the military and civilians would continue.
The state Commissioner for Information and Culture and
Chairman of the Committee on the COAS conference, Chief Chris Okewulonu, said
the hosting of the event was a landmark taking into cognizance the number of
delegates that would be coming to the state.
He said Governor Achike Udenwa bearing the importance of the
conference to the military as well as its over all effects on the populace and
democracy has done everything within the power of government to ensure a hitch
free conference.
He said, “government is aware of what this annual
conference will bring to the people of Nigeria and that is why Governor Udenwa
has done everything within the power of his administration to do for those
attending the event.”
He remarked that all the events which Imo has successfully
hosted in 2004 is a testimony of the leadership acumen of the governor who is
doing all that is possible to unite all strata of people and forge a united and
indivisible Nigeria.
Okewulonu insisted that the presence of the COAS as well as
other military top brass from across the country converging in the state has
really shown Imo as a peaceful and stable state where economic and social lives
are thriving without let or hindrance.
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