By Junaidu Danladi
In Nigeria, 15th January every year is set aside as Armed forces remembrance day to honour the Nigerian fallen heroes who have paid the supreme price in in defence of country. Indeed, a lot of Nigerians lost their lives during the World War II, military coups and civil war. They deserved to be commemorated for their selfless service to the country.
The First Nigeria’s Military Coup d’etat occured on 5th January 1966. The coup was bloody resulting to the killing of some Nigerian nationalist and patriotic leaders both civilian and military. Some of those killed included Sir Abubabkar Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister, Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto, Premier of Northern Region, Chief Samuel Akintola, Premier of Western Region, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Minister of Finance, Brig. Zakariya Maimalari, Brig. Sam Ademulegun, Colonel Kur Mohammed among many others. The coup led to the counter-coup, which flung the country into three years of Civil War (1967-1970). Since then, the country had experience incessant military coups, that only ended in 1999, when the country returned to democratic rule.
This year’s remembrance day is coming at time when the country is facing daunting challenges such as insecurity, hyper inflation, pervasive corruption among others. Alas, at the moment, there are some Nigerians that are agitating for military intervention. The recent military coups in the neighbouring countries of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea can be a motivating factor for this call. However, one thing that is obvious is that the military intervention cannot solve the Nigeria’s problems. In fact, the current military a6irely different from the politicians.
Happy 2024 Armed Forces Remembrance Day
