Page 2 - AFRD Special Edition

Principal’s Desk

personnel who have lost their lives serving From the
Principal’s Address their country believed that the values and but it is up to us to

beliefs enjoyed by Nigerians were being
Robert Franklin threatened. They truly believed that ensure that their

dream of peace is
“Without freedom, there can be no endur-
Robert Franklin
ood afternoon everyone and welcome to to- ing peace and without peace no enduring
day’s Remembrance Day Assembly. Today freedom.” realised.
G we are solemnly remembering those peo-
ple who have given their lives in the service of their By remembering their service and their I am going to end my speech with a short
country. sacrifice, we recognize the tradition of quotation from Heather Robertson on the
freedom these men and women fought to importance of Remembrance:

The Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration preserve. They believed that their actions
Today we are dates back to 1919 when the British Commonwealth in the present would make a significant “We must remember. If we do not, the sac-
difference in the future, but it is up to us to
member states used the day to mark the end of the
solemnly First World War and honour the memory of those ensure that their dream of peace is real- rifice of those who gave their lives will be
meaningless. They died for us, for their
ised.
who died during the war. It was celebrated on the
remembering 11th of November every year and still is in many During times of war, individual acts of her- homes and families and friends, for a col-
lection of traditions they cherished and a
countries around the world. However, at the end
those people who of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970, Nigeria decided to oism occur frequently; only a few are ever future they believed in. The meaning of

recorded and receive official recognition.
their sacrifice rests with our collective na-
adopt January 15 to commemorate and honour her
have given their armed forces and fallen heroes, with an additional By remembering all who have served, we tional consciousness; our future is their
monument.”
recognize their willingly endured hardships
emphasis on those living and serving.
lives in the service When we think of remembrance, we often go back and fears, taken upon themselves so that Thank You
we could live in peace.
of their country. to the First and Second World Wars, where soldiers

from Nigeria played an important role. Yet there are

many types of conflict and at the moment the Ni-
gerian Armed Forces are engaged in a valiant and
laudable struggle, battling the terrorism of groups
such as Boko Haram.

Today though, I would like to reflect on the impor-
tance of Remembrance. We often take for granted
our values and institutions, our freedom to partic-

ipate in cultural and political events, and our free-
dom to live under a government of our choice. The

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