The Emergence of Ex-Servicemen’s Welfare Associations in Nigeria after the Second World War

Abstract

The outbreaks of the First and Second World Wars forced the British colonial
government to recruit and conscript colonial subjects in large numbers to fight for the
survival of the British Empire in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. After the wars, the
demobilized ex-servicemen started to seek a change of attitude from the colonial
government because of the new experiences they had acquired during their military
services outside Nigeria. One of the significant outcomes of the wars was the eventual
proliferation of Ex-servicemen welfare associations throughout the country. The
demobilized soldiers started organizing themselves into associations to address their
welfare issues because the colonial government failed to provide jobs for the majority
of them. This paper argues that the emergence and proliferation of ex-servicemen’s
welfare association in Nigeria was due to the failure of the colonial government to
resettle and rehabilitate the ex-soldiers into meaningful civil life despite their
contributions to the survival of the British Empire.