The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Dr Ibrahim Kana, has said President Muhamamadu Buhari is committed to reforming the nation’s defence and armed forces for effective performance.
Kana said this during his maiden interaction with Defence Correspondents on Thursday in Abuja.
He said President Buhari had assigned him to the ministry to ensure the creation of a ministry of defence that would to take the shape of Pentagon in the United States.
“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 the civilian staff within the same environment.
“We will not be directly involved in operations but we will handle the policy aspect of the defence to ensure the best for our troops,” he said.
The permanent secretary said Buhari had also approved the payment of debarment allowance to military veterans and the creation of veterans department in the ministry.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that military veterans, under the aegis of Coalition of Concerned Veterans, had embarked on a nationwide protest on Jan. 5, and vowed to disrupt the celebration of the 2022 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration on Jan. 15.
They later suspended the protest following the intervention of the Minister of Defence, retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi.
Kana, who commended the federal government for paying attention to defence sector, said the ministry had been getting its budgetary allocation 100 per cent.
He said the ministry was also committed to reforming the health services being provided to military personnel.
According to him, a soldier who presents himself for service may have to pay the ultimate price, wounded and even incapacitated.
“Therefore, we are reforming our health facilities to provide quality health service to our personnel.
“We are also reforming education, especially the command secondary schools.
“Armed personnel have children and they have to go to school and that is our responsibility,” he said. (NAN)
