By Olatunji Saliu
ABUJA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Halima Abel, the widow of a former Nigerian military man, fought back tears as a minute's silence was held for military personnel killed in service-related incidents at a remembrance ceremony in Abuja on Wednesday.
Abel's husband, a soldier, died while fighting terror group Boko Haram in the country's northeast region in 2012. The ceremony in Abuja was the first opportunity for her to witness a national honor in memory of her husband and others who paid the ultimate price for their country's freedom.
"We came here to pay our respects to our husbands. We have come to celebrate them because they are heroes to the world and to us, too, as their wives," Abel, donning all-black apparel like every other military widow present at the ceremony, told Xinhua.
The one-minute silence was followed by a deep booming sound of guns that reverberated around the cenotaph adjacent to the government's secretariat in the city center of Abuja, Nigeria's capital, on Wednesday.
On Jan. 15 every year, Nigeria remembers the members of the armed forces who died in active service, fighting to defend the country's unity. Usually, the day is marked with a remembrance parade by the military, including a minute's silence, playing of the last post, a 21-gun salute, the ceremonial laying of wreaths and release of pigeons to symbolize peace.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari led citizens of the country to honor and pay glowing tributes to the heroes. Across the 36 state capitals in the country, similar events were held in the most colorful fashion.
The top echelon of the Nigerian armed forces and the police, heads of the national parliament, representatives of the surviving war veterans and military widows also laid wreaths at the cenotaph in honor of the fallen heroes.
"During celebrations like this, I feel happy because he did not die in vain. The country still remembers him," said Abel who is now faced with the challenge of solely raising the children sired by her late husband.
"I sometimes feel sorrowful because it brings back memories. I just have to pull myself together. Each day that passes by, I still cry because my husband is not here to take care of myself and the kids," she said further.
Beyond the national honor held for the heroes and glowing tributes paid unto them, however, there is still a lot that the government needs to do to alleviate the pains of the surviving spouses of the military personnel, the widow said.
"No doubt, for many of us military widows, life's no longer the same for us. We still expect the authorities to do more for us as proof that our late husbands were heroes and that they truly mean a lot to the country," she said.
For those who died during active service, their children enjoy a number of benefits, including military-sponsored scholarships from elementary school to the university, according to Veronica Aloko, national president of the Nigerian Military Widows Association (MiWA).
The association, created by the country's military chiefs, also caters to the widows and brings them together to enjoy more benefits.
In September 2019, in providing succour to wives of the thousands of slain military men, no fewer than 2,500 members of MiWA were offered training in various vocations nationwide.
Aloko said, however, in terms of employment to members of the association and further donations, the military widows expect more from the government.
"They (the military chiefs) made it a duty to take care of us. They have been training us in some skill acquisitions and after training, we will be given grants," Aloko said. "I think through that, our pains will be further alleviated."
