Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has said that the battle against insecurity and other criminality threatening the unity and well being in the country is a fight to preserve and leave a better Nigeria for our children despite its imperfections.

Speaking at the interdenominational Church Service to mark the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration 2022, at the National Christian Centre, Osinbajo said, “It is the struggle to realize the worth of our national anthem and make Nigeria, a land where peace and justice reign. 

The nation we are fighting for is in the process of being reborn and every victory that our armed forces record, through their immense courage serves to bring the new Nigeria. 

Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustspha, the Vice President said, ‘As we celebrate our fallen compatriots and our veterans today (Sunday), we must recognize that the burden of their vocation is not burn by them alone there is a sense in which soldiers enlist along with their families. 

“The families of the fallen heroes bear an extraordinary burden, the loneliness of husbands and wives, violently deprived of their spouses, the trauma of children who will grow up without the warmth of the parent’s love and those who raised their children alone as single parents.

Even the veterans that return home, do so with physically and psychological scars, often with injuries, not only to their bodies but to their minds.

“From the Civil War to our current struggle against terrorists, and insurgents, the durability of our reunion has been made possible in large part by dedication to duty of men and women of our armed forces often at a great cost to themselves. 

The real question is whether we as a people are worthy of their sacrifices. The only way, to truly repay their sacrifice and service is to commit ourselves to the reason for which they have given their lives.

“It is for the rest of us to live in and the conduct ourselves with the highest values as a people and ensure that we all become addicts of peace and Justice.

Our commitment as an administration is to ensure that the families that shoulder such burdens will not do so alone. The welfare, benefits and entitlement of members of our armed forces and their families will remain priority for us. 

In his remarks, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor while felicitating with officers, soldiers and their families on the occasion of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration (AFRDC) 2022 commended members of the armed forces for the commitment and steadfastness in the mandate of ensuring and safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country.

Irabor said,  “I would like to specially commend members of the armed forces, especially the veterans who laid the foundation on which we are building upon to bring peace and security to every part of the country.

“There are challenges but the challenges are not as much as where we started from. 

“That gives hope for everyone that as we go into the year 2922, that there is ample opportunity to escalate the actions that brought the peace that we now enjoy and also to take it to another level where there would be no need for anyone to live in fear in any part of the country.”