Editor’s note: Nigeria on January 15 every year marks the Armed Forces Remembrance Day in honnour of our fallen heroes who lost their lives during the Nigerian civil war and the first and second world wars and also the survivors who are the Legionnaires.
Dr Anyikude, a Research Associate, from the University of Leeds, UK, in this piece talks about two major ways citizens can effectively and collectively remember these heroes.
How Nigerian citizens can honour our fallen heroes
As Nigeria marks the Armed Forces Remembrance Day on January 15, it is time to pause, consider and reflect on the true meaning of this day and our roles as Nigerian citizens. The Armed Forces Remembrance Day represents a national day of reverence and awareness, honouring those Nigerians who died while defending our beloved country and her values.
While these heroes should be honoured daily by the citizens for the immense contributions they made towards defending and securing our country, we should specially honour them on the Armed Forces Remembrance Day.
Hundreds of young men and women have perished in wars, especially during the Boko Haram insurgency, Biafra War and several peacekeeping missions at home and abroad with each soldier hoping for peace to be restored.
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My heart bleeds when I think about these soldiers that left their families behind. Taking a day to remember them for paying the ultimate sacrifice is the least we can do for them. If not for their courage, dedication and sacrifice, the freedom we have as Nigerians would have been long gone.
The thought of the soldiers leaving their families, friends and communities, knowing that they may never come back home again is heartbreaking. Most of these brave soldiers definitely had this very thought as they kissed their families goodbye. Even those fortunate to make it back home return with eternal physical and mental scars of war, with many of these soldiers still feeling the agony of losing their colleagues in the battlefield. For this reason, we should take time to remember those who have fallen and those who courageously served our nation well.
I do not think that Nigerians are doing enough in terms of remembering these fallen heroes especially in the days leading up to the Armed Forces Remembrance Day. It is quite clear that most Nigerians don’t buy and wear the remembrance emblem. In fact, predominantly top government functionaries, civil servants, uniformed men and newscasters wear them.
This could either be due to lack of awareness from the Nigerian Legion who is in charge of producing and selling these emblems, or Nigerians not being bothered to buy and wear the emblems. The money generated from the sale of these emblems actually goes towards catering for the families of our fallen heroes, our heroes injured/disabled in conflicts and our veterans.
In the United Kingdom where I reside, their emblem which is called a poppy is worn by many citizens with so much pride, with money realised going towards the heroes of the country with more than £40 million raised across the UK.
Personally, I buy the emblems from Nigeria and wear them in the UK with so much pride. I wear the emblem to work, church and to the stadium
So, how can we patriotic citizens effectively and collectively remember these heroes especially in the months leading up to the Armed Forces Remembrance Day?
Firstly, the Nigerian Legion should encourage Nigerians to buy these emblems by creating the appropriate awareness on the sale of the emblems, the essence of wearing them and how the money will be used (accountability is key here). The Nigerian Legion should report the amount raised per year and how the funds are/were disbursed. This awareness can be done through the media through constant radio and TV jingles, adverts and newspaper publications.
Being a charitable cause, I honestly expect the media to create this awareness free of charge. Also, it could be made mandatory that corporate organisations and banks be made as sales points for the emblems.
Secondly, Nigerians should buy and wear these emblems with a sense of patriotism and pride.
They should see the Nigerian Legion as a charity and emblem sale as a charity event geared towards providing financial, social and emotional support to the families of the fallen soldiers, injured servicemen, retired servicemen, veterans, those currently serving in the Nigerian Armed Forces and their dependants.
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Thirdly, the Nigerian Legion through the Nigerian Government needs to make these emblems available to Nigerians in the Diaspora. Also, the Armed Forces Remembrance Day should be marked in all Nigerian embassies around the world and appropriate awareness created for the Diasporans to attend to pay their respects.
Fourthly, another thing we can do as patriotic citizens of Nigeria to remember our fallen soldiers is to visit a war memorial site at our own convenience. These memorial sites which are known as cenotaphs are erected in memory of the Unknown Soldier and are dedicated to all soldiers that have sacrificed their lives for our dear nation and those who will sacrifice.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Zenithblog.com.
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