NIGERIANS, today, marked the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day, an annual event to commemorate the nation’s servicemen and fallen heroes.
The event, celebrated on January 15 each year, also honours veterans of World War I and II, as well as the Nigerian Civil War. It is a day set aside for sober reflections on the significance of the armed forces to the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari presided over the ceremony at Eagle Square.
Vice-President Yemi Osinabjo; Ahmad Lawan, senate president; Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives; Olukayode Ariwoola, chief justice of Nigeria, heads of security agencies and other dignitaries were present.
While the Armed Forces Remembrance Day is celebrated on November 11 every year globally, it is known as the armistice day, commemorating the end of the first World War.
But with the formal end of the Nigerian Civil War following the surrender of the Biafran secessionists on January 15, 1970, the date was changed to mark the restoration of Nigeria’s unity.
Amid the celebration in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari led a wreath-laying event and reviewed a presidential parade at the National Arcade in Abuja.
