NASS Will Sustain Support For Armed Forces, Lawan Assures
PRESIDENT of the Senate, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, has assured that the National Assembly (NASS) would continue to support to the country’s Armed Forces to enable them overcome the numerous security challenges in Nigeria.
Lawan, speaking shortly after the launch of the emblem for next year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, pledged that the legislature would also not hesitate to provide the needed financial assistance to the families of fallen heroes and veterans of the country’s military.
He stated: “First of all, this entire event is for Mr. President to launch the appeal fund for the remembrance for the veterans of this country and of course, you will recall that the President donated a sum of N10million for this.
“We, in the legislature, normally do our own contribution, but I always like to do that from the headquarters of the National Assembly, that’s the National Assembly complex, because we are a separate arm of government and I feel that this is not the right place to say what we will do to support our veterans.
“I commended the President for providing much funds for our Armed Forces to secure Nigeria. Of course, we have been experiencing a lot of insecurity, but you must credit this government with the fact that when it came in 2015, the Northeast, particularly Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, were under the occupation, and I use the word occupation deliberately and purposefully, of the insurgents, Boko Haram.
“Many of our local governments were under the control of Boko Haram, but Mr. President, decidedly, approached the matter and by two years, we could say that Boko Haram was technically defeated and today, it’s not technically defeated, but practically defeated.
“Our states are free and liberated. Of course, we experience other security issues in the Northwest, North Central and to some extent, the Southeast.”
Lawan noted that the Armed Forces have been able to achieve a lot because no administration has given them the kind of support they have enjoyed under the Buhari government, adding: “But aren’t we doing something as an administration? We are doing so much and our Armed Forces are sacrificing everything with the little that we’re giving them. But this is the administration that has spent so many resources on the Armed Forces to ensure we secure the country.
“Mr. President promised several times that before he leaves in May 2023, he would ensure that he leaves behind a more and better secured Nigeria and the best and only most logical thing to do, for us in the National Assembly, is to also participate in that enterprise of ensuring that we provide resources for the armed forces and other security agencies to continue to fight the insecurity that we face, and it’s something that is doable.”
He used the opportunity to call on all Nigerians to also support the Armed Forces, noting: “It’s a matter of determination and I’m taking this opportunity to appeal to all Nigerians, that we must at all times, support our Armed Forces, at all times identify with what they are doing.
“These are people who give their lives. Some of them lose their lives, some are maimed, lose their limbs and therefore they deserve, not only empathy, but the kind of support that will give them the sense that the citizens are behind them, and I believe that that’s going to go a long way in making them feel that we are in this thing together,” he added.
