Military retirees express disappointment over exclusion of NAFRC bill 

Although the Senate made history last Wednesday by passing 46 bills in 10 minutes, some of the military retirees at the Nigerian Armed Forces Resettlement Centre (NAFRC), Lagos, yesterday, expressed disappointment that their bill was not passed.

The bill, if passed, would transform NAFRC in Oshodi, Lagos, into a National Resettlement Institute, thus helping to concretize measures to ensure a smooth transition into retirement for military retirees.

The bill, which was approved by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, since last year, had also secured the approval of the NAFRC governing board.

However, when other bills were passed last week, the military retirees lamented that theirs, which should have assisted them to transit to civilian life after their meritorious service to the nation, was left out.

Some of the retirees, who spoke to newsmen said although other bills passed, were not less important, theirs should have also been passed considering the years they have put in the service of their fatherland.

One of them said: “We thought that the bill that concerns people who offered to willingly died for the nation would have been accorded priority over others. The bill has been passed since last year and up till now no further action has been taken on it.”

Commenting on the matter, the NAFRC Commandant, Air Vice Marshal Monday Morgan, said the bill, when formally signed into law, would see civilians go through training alongside their military counterparts in the centre, which has graduated over 40,704 military retirees since inception in the early 1970s.

He said: “The mandate of NAFRC is to equip retiring personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces with relevant trade and vocational skills to enable them integrate into civil society and enjoy a productive and fulfilling life in retirement.