NAPAAS moves to empower veterans’ wife, widow as MD bags award

In a bid to continually uplift the living standard of wives, widows and children of our veterans, National Personal Assets Acquisition Scheme (NAPAAS) in conjunction with Federal Government may have concluded plans to empower more of the wives, widows and children of Nigerian ex-servicemen in the face of current economic realities with 50 of them getting training and tricycles in the first phase of the program.

Managing Director/CEO NAPAAS, Aminu Bello Mohammed who made this known at the weekend during a get-together with members of the Ex-Service men and Families Welfare Association of Nigeria in Masaka, Nasarawa State said forms had been given to the association’s leadership for their members to fill and return as they at NAPAAS await a list of the selected 50 to start the training immediately and at the end provide them with the tricycles.

Explaining more, Mohammed said, “It is going to be like hire purchase whereby beneficiaries will have to use the keke for commercial services, make returns for about one or two years, and take ownership after completing the payment.

“Our focus is that these ex-service men and women and their wives, widows and children need to have a reliable source of income from where to earn a living on a daily basis”.

He said, “The programme was flagged-off about two months ago and  NAPAAS is working hard with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), the Tricycle Owners of Nigeria and other stakeholders to ensure its success, adding “and we hope to have concluded the process by the end of May”.

Speaking earlier, President Ex-Service men and Families Welfare Association of Nigeria, Master Warrant Officer, Anthony Agbas (Rtd) expressed the association’s gratitude to NAPAAS for all they had been doing to make life better for families of veterans, urging them to do more.

He said part of their achievement so far is that they have been able to guarantee loans for some of their members which had been used in purchasing tricycles and motorcycles.

“We look forward to working with other members who need this help to make living better for themselves and families, especially in this time of hardship,” he said.

An award of Recognition was presented to Alh. Aminu Bello by President of Ex-Service men and Families Welfare Association of Nigeria, Master Warrant Officer, Anthony Agbas (Rtd) in appreciation of his selfless, humanitarian service and for being good friend of veterans’ widows and children of fallen heroes.