The Armed Forces Remembrance Day is believed to be for the dead and maybe the weak and feeble soldiers that can hardly kill an ant.
Now, Gov Sim Fubara wants heroes celebrated alive. He said it is more rewarding to celebrate the military and members of the security agencies for their contributions and sacrifices while they are alive, and not just when they are dead.
Gov Fubara spoke at the Inter-denominational Thanksgiving Service held in commemoration of the 2025 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Chaplaincy, Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Rumuibekwe, in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area on Sunday.
The Governor described as unfair, to only remember fallen heroes, as the yearly Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration represents, but to also put in place a more enduring measure of acknowledging and celebrating officers and men in active service for their gallantry.
Gov Fubara, therefore, assured that his administration would do everything possible within its powers to make life better for officers and men involved in various security operations, including legionnaires and survivors of fallen heroes within the State.
He said, “But 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 want to also support, strongly, those people that they 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 that people will be remembered by the government for taking the right decision for them and helping them develop to be something great in our country.”
Governor Fubara also said: “We want to assure the legionnaires on whose instance this occasion is centred on. We want to assure the Armed Forces that this government will continue to do its best to protect 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 any one 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.”
In his homily, Pius Kii, the Chaplain of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Chaplaincy, Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), a Monsignor, spoke on the theme, “Remembrance”, and emphasised the importance of rendering worthy services, to God, society and humanity.
Kii admonished that on an auspicious day as the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration, proper remuneration should be instituted for men and women of the Armed Forces who have continued to fight against external aggressions, terrorism, and curbed internal insurgencies.
