ARMY DAY CELEBRATION: OFFICERS WORSHIP GOD FOR DIVINE SACRIFICE TO FATHERLAND; COAS YAHAYA REITERATES CIVIL WAR ‘AN UNFORTUNATE TRAGEDY’
By Oki Samson, Trek Africa Newspaper
L-R: Commander, 9 Brigade, Brig Gen I.E Akpaumontia; Commander, 55 Signals Brigade, Brig. Gen E.O Oshunsan; Chief of Staff to the Brigade Commander, 9 Brigade, Col Isidore Amah and other senior officers during the Nigerian Army Day Celebrations Thanksgiving held at Saint Catholic Church, 9 Brigade, Ikeja, Lagos.
‘It is a great thing to sing praises to the Lord God Almighty’, the Word of God commands. This formed the basis of the gathering of saints comprising the gallant officers and men of the Nigerian Army, 81 Division, their family, friends, and supporters as they converged at the Saint Catholic Church, Maryland, Ikeja, Lagos for this year’s Nigerian Army Day Celebration.
For the esteemed soldiers, it was a day of thanksgiving, praise, worship, prayer, and rededication to the work which has been committed into their hands by the Lord.
They sang melodious choruses and hymns, danced exuberantly, and listened intently to the words of instruction which came from the altar even as they look forward to the next 365 days of active service to fatherland.
The goodwill message of Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya delivered on behalf of the GOC 81 Division, Maj. Gen. UT Musa by the Commander, 9 Brigade, Ikeja Army Cantonment, Brig Gen I.E Akpaumontia noted that though the celebration is low key, it does not diminish the importance. ‘This year’s Nigerian Army Day Celebration is to showcase Nigerian Army commitment as a responsive Force to the discharge of its constitutional roles. The Nigerian Army has the constitutional mandate to maintain the country’s territorial integrity.’
‘Nigerian Army Day Celebration is an annual event which was first celebrated on the 6th July 1978 in solemn remembrance of the historic first shot of the 6th July 1967 which marked the commencement of the civil war to keep Nigeria one. It was equally to bring to the knowledge of Army personnel and everyone about the fact that the war was an unfortunate tragedy.
Subsequently, the Nigerian Army Day Celebration has been a week-long celebration which terminates on 6th July every year’, Trek Africa Newspaper gathered from COAS Yahaya.
The priest, Very Revd. Fr. (Col.) NI Saleh, who gave the sermon during the special church service exhorted on the values of humility and selflessness in the task that the Lord has committed into the hands of the professional Army. Taking his sermon from the Bible story of the General who sought healing for his servant, Father Saleh said: ‘The quality of a slave at that time is nothing. A slave has no right. When you slap a slave, he says thank you sir, thank you ma.
But the General had the fear of God and decided that his slave would not die. He valued the slave so highly because he knows that the slave is the likeness of God.’
‘He could have sent a soldier to get Jesus but he was full of humility. He went to the elders to appeal to Jesus on his behalf.
Commander, 9 Brigade, Brig Gen I.E Akpaumontia
When Jesus was coming, he even said that he is not worthy for Jesus to come to his house but rather Jesus should send his word to command the healing’, the Deputy Director (Roman Catholic), 81 Division Chaplain Service shared.
The Commander of the 9th Brigade, Brig Gen I.E Akpaumontia told Trek Africa Newspaper about the need for citizen’s support. ‘Today is a memory of how and why a nation should not be because in 1967, we had the Nigerian civil war and we don’t want it to be again. In everything we do, we make sure that our country is united at all cost. The Armed Forces cannot do anything without the support of the citizens, they are key to the military because without information, the military cannot do anything. We depend on liaison between us and the general populace.’
L-R: Spokesperson, 81 Division, Major Olaniyi Bello Osoba; Commander, 9 Brigade, Brig Gen I.E Akpaumontia; Wife of 9 Brigade Commander, Barr. Mrs. Ada Ndidi Akpaumontia and Chief of Staff to the Brigade Commander, 9 Brigade, Col Isidore Amah during the Nigerian Army Day Celebrations Thanksgiving held at Saint Catholic Church, 9 Brigade, Ikeja, Lagos.
During the NADCEL combined service comprising the Roman Catholic and the Protestant, various aspects of the service were taken by men and women of the Force, the Band, members of Nigeria Army Officers Wives Association (NAOWA), media, among others. Clergymen who ministered at the service also included the Acting Director (Roman Catholic), Chaplain Services, Nigerian Army, Very Revd. Fr. (Col) AF Maimagani; the Acting Director (Protestant), Chaplain Services, Nigerian Army, Col. (Revd.) YA Ishaya; and the Deputy Director (Protestant), 81 Division Chaplain Service, Lt. Col. (Ven) MO Amuluche.
Some of the senior officers that attended the Nigerian Army’s Day Celebrations includes Commander, 9 Brigade, Ikeja Cantonment, Brig Gen. IE Akpaumontia; his wife, Barr. Mrs. Ada Ndidi Akpaumontia; Commander, 55 Signals Brigade, Brig. Gen E.O Oshunsan; Chief of Staff to the Brigade Commander, 9 Brigade, Col Isidore Amah; Spokesperson, 81 Division, Major Olaniyi Bello Osoba among others.
L-R: President, National Association of Online Security News Publishers, NAOSNP, Oki Samson with the Commander, 55 Signals Brigade, Brig. Gen E.O Oshunsan
