By Bassey Nkponam
UYO
The Akwa Ibom governor has assured widows of slain soldiers and Legionnaires of his administration’s continued assistance.
Pastor Umo Eno, who gave the assurance, Wednesday, at the 2025 Nigerian Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration which took place at the Cenotaph, Udo Udoma Avenue, Uyo, said his administration will continue to intentionally do all it can to assist widows of the deceased fallen heroes, and the Nigerian Legionnaire, saying, “the widows of our fallen soldiers and those who served the nation diligently will not walk alone. We will stand by you, pray with you and give you our support”.
Eno said Akwa Ibom people will continue to celebrate and honour the sacrifices of the fallen heroes whom, he recalled, as gallant officers and men who went as agents for peace, ended up as sacrifices for what turned out to be the peace of the graveyard.
He directed the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare and that of Humanitarian Affairs to collaborate and ensure that widows of the fallen heroes both of the military and the Police, are encouraged to engage in lucrative economic ventures and absorbed by them into the various empowerment programmes in the State, where necessary.
Eno announced the donation of N250 million to mark this year’s event, and directed that the widows be made to benefit from the state-owned Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development programme, Ibom-LED, to enhance their economic potentials.
The governor called on Nigerian leaders and citizens to exhibit attributes of patriotism to reciprocate the sacrifices of Nigeria’s fallen heroes who, fired by patriotic fervor, left their families and without conscription, voluntarily enlisted into the various arms of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
He said the fallen heroes were aware that by signing up to defend the territorial integrity of their country to restore peace at various flash points of violence, they may end up paying the ultimate sacrifice, calling on Nigerians to demonstrate their respect by identifying with the sentiments they sacrificed their lives for.
“Today I’ve direct the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Women Affairs and the permanent secretary of Humanitarian Affairs, not only to disburse money to these women but to ensure that each and every one of them have something they are doing. They will look at your trade, improve their trade and where possible, send them to be trained in Ibom LED, to make sure they run their businesses well.
“It is on this occasion, therefore, that I am announcing the sum of one hundred and fifty million Naira to be given to these women and to be disbursed promptly and accordingly to ensure that they carry on their trade.
“Let me specially also announce another one hundred million Naira to the Police and other security agencies because they too have fallen heroes and I stand here as a proud son of a police officer who gave his life in the line of duty. So, therefore, we will continue to live our lives in a way that will honour those that have gone before us.
“The question remains! Have we done enough to correspondingly show our appreciation for their heroism and sacrifices? Are the issues that led to the conflicts that claimed their lives resolved? Are we living in a truly united, fair and equitable nation where opportunities abound for every one? Are we the leaders, doing all we can to run an inclusive forward-looking government where the issues and concerns of the people form the motivating impulses of our engagements? These are questions we should ponder on as we honour the services of our patriotic and brave men and officers of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
“We in Akwa Ibom will continue to celebrate and honour their sacrifices. We will continue to intentionally do all we can to assist them as well as the Nigerian Legionnaires”.
He thanked the Nigerian security services for working collaboratively with government to ensure maintenance of the peace the State is enjoying.
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