The Gombe State Branch of the Nigerian Legion has urged Nigerians to strive to keep the country united.
The Chairman of the State Branch, Retired Staff Sergeant Adamu Dogo, stated this during the official launch of the 2021-2022 Armed Forces Remembrance Day and Emblem Appeal Fund in Gombe.
“To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done. We have done it and are still doing it.”
While saluting fellow Legionnaires and their families, Retired Staff Sergeant Dogo appealed for generous donations to the group, through the purchase of the emblems and wearing them with pride in order to honour the veterans who devoted most of their active lives to secure the Nation and the World.
He said the public should consider the plight of the immediate families and dependents of fallen heroes, as well as living heroes, who devoted most of their active lives to secure the Nation and the World at large.
Staff Sergeant Dogo said the living heroes and families of fallen heroes yearned for assistance and care by everyone.
“Therefore, this occasion is a unique one in the sense that, it is time for sober reflection with the aim of helping them.”
He laid some of the challenges the legionnaires face in the state, before the Governor of Gombe State, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Manassah Daniel Jatau, asking for assistance in that regard.
Some of the requests are the provision of office accommodation for the legionnaires, which they now in a dilapidated rented House, while two official vehicles they have are both in bad conditions and that the wives of fallen heroes, who constituted about 70% of the women who turned up at the launch, needed the government’s assistance, through the empowerment programmes they conduct from time-to-time.
The Legionnaires, however, pledged their support for the government, in appreciation for its support, while thanking the 301 Artillery Regiment for its support to the group.
Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, who was represented by his Deputy, Dr Manassah Daniel Jatau, donated the sum of 5 million naira to the living heroes and families of the fallen heroes, while the deputy governor made his personal donation of 1.1 million naira to the heroes.
He encouraged other guests invited to do the same.
The Commissioner for Internal Security and Ethical Orientation, Mr Adamu Dishi Kupto, said the Remembrance Day celebration and emblem launch was an expression of the Government’s commitment to honour our fallen Heroes, who laid down their lives in service to Humanity during the First and Second World Wars.
“Nigeria Civil War as well as Peace support and Internal Security Operations especially the long-drawn War on insurgency as well as Armed Banditry. The Occasion is also used to honour and cater for the Welfare of the Veterans who are still alive and families of the fallen Heroes/Heroines. This is a sober event for us to reflect on what life would have been without their patriotism, doggedness and courage even in the face of danger, where many lost their lives while others are still carrying the scars and emotional trauma from their experiences,” said Mr Kupto.
He encouraged everyone to discard any issue that would highlight differences or widen the divisions between people of different ethnic, religious or political affiliations.
The Gombe State Commissioner for Internal Security and Ethical Orientation, therefore, appealed to the guests to make generous donations to the Nigerian Legion, but the emblems and wear them to honour the heroes, who dedicated most of their active lives to secure Nigeria.
PIAK
