Beyond Remembering Our Fallen Heroes

The annual ritual of gathering and singing the praises of members of the nation’s Armed Forces, whose blood has continued to keep Nigeria together in peace, took place across the nation two days ago. Popularly known as the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, January 15, this year, just like the previous ones, was marked to remember the fallen heroes as well as to commemorate the official end of the Nigerian Civil War on that day in 1970.
This year’s event was not different as President Muhammadu Buhari himself led the laying of wreath at the cenotaph in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, while the State governors did same in their respective states across the country.
While The Tide commends the Nigerian leaders for using the occasion to preach peace, unity and stability in the country, we, however, note disappointingly that little or nothing is being done to alleviate both the plight of legionnaires who have left service and the excruciating hardship faced by immediate families of those who fell in the course of their services to the nation.
There is no gainsaying the fact that a great number of our ex-servicemen are going through unbearable pain to survive daily. While some are permanently incapacitated and therefore, have become dependants themselves, some others have suffered mental and psychological imbalance due to hardship they were not prepared to face. Yet, there are those whose survivors have been rendered destitutes, facing all manners of abuses, with their children out of school.
The memory of ex-servicemen sleeping in the open, wailing, lamenting, bemoaning their fate and even dropping dead on queues to collect their miserable terminal benefits are still fresh with us. Sadly, there is no indication that those days are gone for good.
This, surely, is not the best way a nation should treat its senior citizens and particularly those who laid their lives on the line in service to their fatherland. There is no better way to inspire patriotism in the citizenry than by meting out good treatment to those who had served.
One veritable way of boosting the morale of those who are still in service and are engaged in the task of securing the nation against insurgency in the North-East and other crimes against the country is to show adequate appreciation for the sacrifices made by the past heroes.
It is in the light of this that we commend the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike for ordering the immediate release of the sum of N100 million he had earlier promised legionnaires in the state in support of widows of the fallen heroes.
The Tide urges other states and local governments in the federation which are, by law, patrons of legion in their various constituencies to emulate the Rivers example and rise to the occasion of making life more bearable for the dependants of our fallen heroes, as well as for those who have disengaged after giving their best to the nation.
We also urge the Federal Government to save the retired officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces the stress of waiting endlessly, amidst indignities, before accessing their terminal benefits. This is in addition to ensuring that proper and beneficial orientation is given to disengaging officers and men for a seamless switch into civil life.
Meanwhile, governments at all levels should continue to support and assist the legionnaires to lead decent lives. As a matter of fact, the authorities should include the legionnaries in all their security plans and activities in order to give them a sense of belonging and to dissuade them from engaging their experience and expertise in unpatriotic ventures due to hunger and neglect.
While The Tide felicitates with the Nigerian soldiers on this occasion of the 2018 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration, we also salute the gallantry and heroism of both past and serving officers and men whose patriotism has kept our country a united, stable and progressive nation.
God bless the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.