The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has pledged its support to ensure the success of the 2022 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration, just as the Nigerian Legion begins activities to mark the day.
The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello made this pledge while playing host to delegation from the Nigerian Legion in his office, in Abuja.
He also assured that the FCTA will make increased donations towards the welfare of the veterans and widows of the departed heroes in the armed forces as a mark of appreciation for their sacrifices.
The Minister stated that , “The FCT Administration will provide the needed support to the Nigerian Legion towards your good efforts of getting donations to the widows and also members of the Legion who are incapacitated and who have challenges. We will this year increase what we donated last year by 50 percent as a mark of appreciation to all the veterans for all their services to this country and also as a mark of support to all the widows and the children that they left behind.”
Bello who was also decorated with the 2022 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Emblem during the visit, also acclaimed the longstanding relationship between the Legion and the FCT Administration saying that their working relationship has helped in the timely management of emergency situations.
He said the FCT Administration over the years has worked very closely with the Nigerian Legion through the employment of many of its members who served to provide supplementary services, especially security as well as intelligence gathering, adding that they have proven to be very hard working and professional in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Bello said, “On some occasions, when we have had fire incidents during off-duty hours, your vigilant members were the ones that were always the first line of defence before other supporting activities come.” In a similar vein, he also commended them for their timely intervention during flooding mishaps.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation and National Chairman of the Legion, Major General Abdulmalik Jubril (rtd), said the Legion has been mandated by President Muhammadu Buhari to solicit for the support and cooperation of well-meaning Nigerians in order to keep alive, memories of the sacrifices made by the departed heroes in the Nigerian Armed Forces.
He said “The President is the Grand Patron of Nigerian Legion and he has asked us to go round to meet well-meaning Nigerians and through Ministers, Ministries, and other government stakeholders in order to solicit for your cooperation and understanding to help convey, through their own Ministries, through their own staff, to keep fresh this memory of the sacrifices made.”
Present at the event were the Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Mr Olusade Adesola, Director of Human Resources Management, Dr Bashir Muhammed, Director of Security Services Dr Abdulateef Bello, Brig. Gen. S.D Makolo Deputy Director, Veteran Affairs Department, Defence Headquarters and other senior officials of the FCTA.
