Today is Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Nigeria, 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.

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.

He was joined by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Tanko Muhammad; and the service chiefs led by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, among other dignitaries.

After prayers were said in both Christian and Islamic ways, President Buhari who is the Special Guest of Honour at the event laid a wreath to honour the fallen heroes.

Thereafter, Professor Osinbajo and others took turns to pay respect to the soldiers who paid the supreme price while protecting the nation’s territorial integrity.

In the course of the celebration, ceremonies are scheduled to hold across various states of the federation during which governors are expected to pay tributes to the nation’s fallen heroes.

Ahead of the event in the nation’s capital, the Federal Government ordered the closure of parts of the roads accessing the arcade of the Federal Secretariat complexes and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as early as 2pm on Friday.

This was announced in a circular in which the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, informed the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the closure.

President Buhari led Nigerians in honouring the memory of fallen heroes during the 2022 Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Abuja.

The activities started October 28, 2021, when the President launched the remembrance emblem at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Earlier in the week, a memorial Christian service was held at the National Ecumenical Centre, on Sunday, while a special Islamic service and prayers were held on Friday at the National Mosque, both in Abuja.

During Saturday’s ceremony, which took place at the National Arcade, opposite the Eagle Square in the Three Arms Zone, the President inspected a Guard of Honour, mounted by detachments of the Nigerian Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Nigerian Legion.

He also laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as a mark of last respect to the fallen heroes who paid the supreme price to keep global peace and the nation’s territorial integrity.

Others who laid wreaths were Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.

Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko; Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, represented by the Minister of State, Hajia Ramatu Aliyu; and the Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Salihi Magashi (Rtd), also laid wreaths at the event.

Others were the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, Service Chiefs and the Nigerian Legion, among others.

Three volleys of 21 gun salute were fired at the event followed by the signing of the Remembrance Day anniversary register by the president accompanied by heads of the other branches of government, military chiefs and other top officials of government.

President Buhari thereafter released white pigeons to indicate the harmony at the venue and the nation.