•Ahmed Aliyu
Sokoto State governor, Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, has said that Nigeria is not oblivious of the contributions and sacrifices of its fallen heroes towards the unity and stability of the country.
The governor said yesterday at the launch of the 2024 Emblem to herald marking the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, reports The Nation.
He said: “We wouldn’t have been where we are today on the map of the existing peace and nationhood without them.”
The launch which raked in over N55 million in donations to support retired military personnel under the Nigerian Legion platform and families of the fallen heroes, preceded the laying of a wreath performed at the popular Maigero open-air Theatre, Sokoto.
The governor said Nigerians must not fail to respond to the welfare of army personnel who are incapacitated and families of the fallen heroes stressing that “nothing is too much as support to them. They did so much to keep the country as one indivisible entity.
“The military has helped to shape the peace, unity, and stability of our country and expanded the frontiers to drive the peace under ECOWAS, AU, and UN missions and have excelled both in discipline, patriotism, and professionalism.
“We, therefore, owe the families of the fallen heroes for the unquantifiable contributions to the nation’s sovereign and corporate existence.”
He passionately pointed out while reassuring that the state government would continue to render the necessary support to the military, the leadership of the Nigerian Legion and families of the fallen heroes, as well as other security agencies to secure the citizens, lives, and property in the state and Nigeria as a whole.
He added: “This is why we stepped up efforts to ensure their welfare and smooth operations and to establish the Community Guards Corps to brace the strength and capacity of security agencies’ operations against the spate of crimes threatening citizens in the state and the northwest.
“I will also seize this opportunity to urge security agencies in the state to embrace the development as I equally commend the determination of our youths for accepting to enroll into the Corps to rid the state of bandits, kidnappers, and cattle rustlers among other disturbing crimes.”
Meanwhile, the state government donated over N26 million to top the list of donors which included Nabunkari Motors Ltd., Sokoto N5 million as the GOC 8 Division of the Nigerian Army, Sokoto, Major General Godwin Mutkut announced N3 million as Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko’s N3 million, BUA Cement N2 million, Senator Ibrahim Abdullahi Gobir N2 million and Alhaji Umaru Kwabo A.A also N2 million swelled the purse alongside other donors who turned in their widows might to add up to the cash and pledges in millions.
