RELIGIOUS BODIES, NGOs, MEDIA ENJOINED TO SUPPORT NIGERIAN ARMY; FATILE SAYS ‘USE THE MOUTH TO PRAY FOR THEM’
By Oki Samson
Convener, Prayer and Support for Armed Forces Group, Mrs. Mary Abayomi Fatile (m); Former NUJ Lagos Chairman, Dr. Qassim Akinreti (right); Nollywood Actress, Amb. Queen Blessing Ebigieson (3rd right); President, National Association of Online Security News Publishers, NAOSNP, Oki Samson (left); MC Prince McDonald (3rd left) and others during the Annual Nigerian Army Day Celebrations Thanksgiving Service held at St. Charlse Luwanga Catholic Church, 9 Brigade Command, Ikeja Military Cantonment.
The need for citizen’s support of the efforts of Nigerian Armed Forces and other security agencies including the Nigerian Army was on Sunday rehashed by a support group at the Annual Nigerian Army Day celebration interdenominational service. The group, Prayer and Support for the Armed Forces Group led by media personality, Mrs. Mary Abayomi Fatile affirmed that the support becomes more crucial in the light of the current security challenges in the country.
Mrs. Fatile who narrated a near-death encounter she had alongside some Army officers at Atlas Cove said that the Army seriously need prayers. ‘I appeal to Nigerians for peace to reign. If there is no peace, we cannot live. We need to support our Armed Forces. We need to pray for them. Come rain, come shine, they are on the battlefront. Some don’t even see their family for years so they require our support.’
Mrs. Mary Fatile, Convener, Prayer and Support for Armed Forces Group
‘In Africa as a whole, they are the best so far, if they can go out and keep the peace, we should ask ourselves why not at home. We should know that some people are sabotaging their efforts. We should pray for them. The mouth you used in tearing them down, you should use the mouth to pray for them. Psalms 24 says lift up your head o ye gates, we should pray that every gate standing before them is lifted. Let God destroy everyone that is sabotaging them like He destroyed Pharaoh and his horsemen. Say a prayer for the Armed Forces’, she charged Nigerians.
Other members of the group want churches, NGOs, and other interest groups to support the Armed Forces in awareness creation, prayers, and other support for the Armed Forces. They told Trek Africa Newspaper that the role of the Army is a divine call because not many will put their lives down for the country, so citizenry should talk positive about the Armed Forces.
Commander, 9 Brigade Command, Brig Gen. I.E Akpaumontia (4th left); His Wife, Barr. Mrs. Ada Ndidi Akpaumontia (3rd left); Commander, 55 Signals Command, Brig Gen E. O Oshunsan (3rd right); Convener, Prayer and Support for Armed Forces Group, Mrs. Mary Abayomi Fatile (4th right); Former NUJ Lagos Chairman, Dr. Qassim Akinreti (5th back); Nollywood Actress, Amb. Queen Blessing Ebigieson (right); President, National Association of Online Security News Publishers, NAOSNP, Oki Samson (2nd right); MC Prince McDonald (left) and others during the Annual Nigerian Army Day Celebrations Thanksgiving Service held at St. Charlse Luwanga Catholic Church, 9 Brigade Command, Ikeja Military Cantonment.
Former NUJ Lagos Chairman, Dr. Qassim Akinreti while lending his voice to the great work of the Nigerian Armed Forces said, ‘We need to give our Nigerian Armed Forces the full support that they require. That’s why we are here to pray and seek God’s face for them. We know that God has power over all things. So if there is any sabotage going on somewhere, we believe God in His infinite mercies will put an end to it and all forms of insecurity challenge. We also include awareness creation of the Armed Forces in all our programs.’
Amb. Queen Blessing Ebigieson said: ‘My son is actually in your secondary school in Abeokuta. He joined in 2017 and I remembered that someone in NAOWA told me that my foundation has been doing things for widows but not for them. I responded that they are government property.’
‘But when she took me round, I make a decision that I will host the widows in 2018 which we give them hampers, food items, sewing machine, we even did three-day capacity building for them. In January we also brought people here to teach the children about how child molestation can be prevented. We also had a lawyer who spoke on domestic violence. So when Mrs. Fatile reached out to me about what she does, I said we need to pray for the Armed Forces, we also need to celebrate the family that they left behind’, Trek Africa Newspaper gathered from the Nollywood queen.
In the same vein, the 9 Brigade Commander, Brig Gen. I.E Akpaumontia added: ‘The Armed Forces cannot do anything without the support of the citizens, they are key to the military because without information, the military cannot do anything. We depend on liaison between us and the general populace.’
Today is a memory of how and why a nation should not be because in 1967, we had the Nigerian civil war and we don’t want it to be again. In everything we do, we make sure that our country is united at all cost.
