Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari over his sustained war against Boko Haram, bandits and other terrorists.
Wike spoke yesterday at the Government House, Port Harcourt after the wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day at Isaac Boro Park.
According to Gov Wike, the best legacies Buhari could leave for the country were the restoration of peace in all troubled geopolitical zones and free and fair elections in February and March.
His words: “I commend our President for his sustained efforts at defeating the Boko Haram insurgents and bandits terrorising and destroying our communities in parts of our country.
“The restoration of peace to our troubled geo-political regions and the conduct of free and fair general elections are the best legacies you can live for our country.”
Speaking further, Wike noted that the Armed Forces had also been at war with Boko Haram and other insurgents in the Northwest and Northeast for over 10 years and the “unknown gunmen” in the South-East.
Th Rivers Governor said he would continue to pray for the President and other leaders to succeed.
“As leaders, our goal must be one Nigeria, one destiny, and the challenges of building a more fair, inclusive and just society are not beyond us.
“Therefore, I will not relent in my prayers to God to enable Mr President and other leaders of our country to succeed in our mission and commitments to our country,” he said.
The former Minister said that a grateful country would honour her armed forces’ extraordinary bravery and courage during their service and the sacrifices of their families for the common good.
He said: “We respect them for the dangerous professional path they willingly chose and love them as our children, relations, friends and members of our communities in the nation’s service.
“But they loved us more and even more significantly as fellow Nigerians by risking their lives, health, family and future on the battlefields to defend and protect us from harm’s way in return for almost nothing.
“We owe them a great deal as a nation. We owe them as states. We owe them as a people. Collectively, we owe them a debt we cannot repay.
“Although the much we can do on this day is to extoll their virtues, commemorate their sacrifice and honour their heroic exploits so that they would never be forgotten for putting their lives on the line for us and others to live.
“This calls for prioritising the welfare and wellbeing of the armed forces in and out of service and their families with a concrete social security package, including prompt payment of terminal benefits and some form of economic security for the widows and their underaged children.”