Armed Force Remembrance Day; Celebrate Soldiers Alive Than in Death -Fubara
Felix Barikui – Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has said that it is more rewarding to celebrate the gallantry of the military and members of other security agencies while they are alive than when they are dead.
Governor Fubara stated this at an Interdenominational Thanksgiving Service held on Sunday at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Chaplaincy, Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Rumuibekwe, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, in commemoration of the 2025 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration.
He said it is unfair only to remember fallen heroes, as the yearly Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration represents, adding that it is necessary to also put in place a more enduring measure of acknowledging and celebrating officers and men in active service for their gallantry.
Governor Fubara assured that his administration would do everything possible to improve the lives of officers and men involved in various security operations, including legionnaires and survivors of fallen heroes in the state.
He said, “I want to say that our government will not be a government that will put its energy only in remembering the late soldiers and those who have died in the course of defending this country.
“I want to change the narrative a bit. We also want to strongly support those who have left behind so that they will know what the government and the good people of Rivers State did for them. Let it also be so that the government will remember people for making the right decisions for them and helping them develop into something great in our country.”
He added: “We want to assure the legionnaires on whose instance this occasion is centered. We want to assure the Armed Forces that this government will continue to do its best to protect the lives of our people and to take the welfare of our people seriously.
“At the end of the day, it is about the people, and the people should come first. We want to assure you that those things we have promised, which I believe we have met a good number of them; however, if there is anyone that we have not done, we will do it to make sure that you are not remembered after your death, but that while you are alive, you also enjoy yourself in the right way.”
Governor Fubara used the opportunity to appeal to religious leaders to use their pulpits to promote peace, progress, and unity of the state, not an avenue for people to cast aspersions and rain abuses on people.
“Let me also appeal to all the religious leaders in this State, please; your pulpit should be a place to talk about peace and progress and the unity of the people of Rivers State. It shouldn’t be an opportunity for people to cast aspersions, abuse people, or say all sorts of things. And more worrisome is that it is in the house of God. Please, I want to beg you (the churches), with due respect, you need to stop it. If I start shooting out of order, drag the microphone from me,” he said.
The governor recalled that the 2024 Armed Forces Remembrance Day was marked when his administration and the entire State were going through stormy times. He asserted that it will be a lot different in 2025 because, according to him, everybody looks brighter and fresher.
He emphasized that his administration could only bring about the desired developments when there was peace in the state and further called for support from the legionnaires and people of the state.
He stated, “This year is a special year. It is special because God has been with us and helped us in several ways. God has also promised us that there will be total peace on every side, and our projection for this year will be as we declared it: ‘Inclusive Growth and Development’, especially on human capital development.
“We can only achieve this in an environment where there is peace, an environment where there is law and order. That is where the security agencies come in. We want to appeal to you, we do not care the means of your appointment; we are not bordered about the ethnic group you are coming from; what we request from you is to consider the interest of this State as more important.
“Know that if anything goes wrong in this State, it affects Nigeria. That is the truth! So, work as professionals and support us to make sure that those things that we ought to do rightly are done for the interest of the good people of Rivers State and Nigeria at large.”
In his homily, the Chaplain of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Chaplaincy, Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Very Reverend Monsignor Pius Kii, who spoke on the theme “Remembrance,” emphasised the importance of rendering worthy services to God, society, and humanity, saying they do not go unnoticed by God, who recompenses justly.
Rev Kii, therefore, admonished that proper remuneration should be instituted for men and women of the Armed Forces who have continued to fight against external aggressions and terrorism and curbed internal insurgencies, with some of them paying the supreme price to ensure a peaceful society for the citizenry.
