Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams, has called on the Federal Government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to set aside a national day yearly to honour all the country’s fallen heroes as being done in European and Asian countries, saying that the government should look beyond honouring only those in the Armed Forces.
It be recalled that Nigeria has set aside January 14 every year to celebrate the Armed Forces Remembrance Day in honour of those that died during battles while serving in the Armed Forces.
Iba Adams made the call on Wednesday while speaking during the 2023 Heroes and Heroines Day organized by Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), which took place at Ikeja, Lagos, describing the event as unique.
The Yoruba generalissimo, while making the call, argued that fallen heroes and heroines go beyond those who died during battles as members of the Armed Forces, saying that some people who fought for political liberation should be considered and must be honoured as well.
According to him, such is the practice in European and Asian countries, saying that the affected countries had long time ago set aside a day or two public holidays to give honour and celebrate their heroes.
This was just as he said if the government could harken to the call, the spirit of those heroes and heroines “would support the country, their spirit would support the people in life so that they can have good governance and proper welfare.”
“It is unique because it is very important even in the global village. In the European Union, every November 1st, they always put as a day for their heroes. When you go to Asia, almost all the countries in Asia always give a holiday, one or two days for their fallen heroes, not only Armed Forces Remembrance Day that Nigeria normally does on January 14 of every year.
“But talking of the fallen heroes, all our fallen heroes, some people who fought for political liberation as well as those who were in the Army or the Armed Forces should be considered. So all of them must be honoured.
“Doing so their spirit would support the country, their spirit would support the people in life so that they can have good governance and proper welfare,” he said.
“But in a situation where you sectionalise, the many people that were not honoured would not use their energy in spiritual realm to support the country.
“So what we are doing here, we are sending a signal to the government that they should look beyond honouring only those in the Armed Forces. They should look at the generality of our heroes. Every Nigerian that died that did not commit a crime, that did not involve in criminality before he died should be considered as a hero,” he added.
Speaking on the programme of the day, the Yoruba generalissimo said Heroes and Heroines Day was one marked by OPC on every November 8th to honour and respect the group’s members “who lost their lives in the course of struggle.”
Iba Adams said it was a day OPC normally called together wives and children of the fallen heroes and “give them token gifts and show the mind of honouring them,” promising to do more in future for those concerned “if God blesses us beyond what we have.”
“Today is the Heroes Day of Oodua People’s Congress. Every November 8th is always our Heroes Day. It’s a day that is normally set aside to honour and respect our fallen heroes. Not only fallen heroes but all those who lost their lives in the course of struggle.
“And today is a day that we normally call the wives and children of the fallen heroes, that we give them token gifts and show the mind of honouring them. That is very important and if God blesses us beyond what we have, we are going to do something tangible for them in the future.
“All of us are in the struggle. We that God spared our lives is by His grace. So definitely some of our members who died in the struggle or some of them who slept and died, we always honour them, and not all of their family members we have in this hall, but selected ones,” Adams said.
“We told our leaders that something tangible must be done for their families in their respective structures, states, local governments and zones,” he added.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
