Ministers who did not wear the emblem of the 2013 Armed Forces Remembrance Day were on Wednesday denied entry into the venue for the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja by security officials.

The affected ministers were told that the directive came from President Goodluck Jonathan.

Jonathan on Thursday inaugurated the emblem at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, calling on Nigerians to proudly wear it.

According to him, wearing the emblem is a good way to appreciate the sacrifice the fallen and living heroes had made towards national development.

All ministers on the occasion were decorated with the emblem.

When those who were not wearing theirs were stopped from entering the venue, others made frantic efforts to get them from workers in the Villa who had theirs on so that they could attend the meeting.

However, the Minister of State, Defence, Olusola Obada, saved the situation when she arrived with more emblems for the ministers.

Some of them who managed to enter the venue without emblems were seen quickly fixing the ones provided by Obada to their dresses before the President entered the hall.

At last, all ministers who came for the meeting were allowed to attend.

However, the meeting was dedicated to the victims of the Saturday’s helicopter crash in Bayelsa State. Jonathan ordered that ministers must wear their emblems for one month.

The President said, “Ministers are hereby directed to wear the Armed Forces Remembrance emblem for one month. We shall wear it up until January 15, 2013 when activities for the remembrance would have been concluded.”

“If you do not wear it to your offices, just make sure you keep money inside your bag to buy another one.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/jonathan-bars-ministers-without-remembrance-emblem-from-fec/

@OP: With that silly signature of ur, I wonder how you expect this thread to make front-page....

Meanwhile I know where I stand in the ranking in case it makes front-page

who care

How does that affect the price of fuel?

Which armed forces? Mtscheew! Shebi they have been bribed. What recognition are they looking for again. They are not respected na. An elder that will collect bribe from an infant will become a toothless bulldog and agbaya.

GARRI (x7):
@OP: With that silly signature of ur, I wonder how you expect this thread to make front-page....

Meanwhile I know where I stand in the ranking in case it makes front-page

It just did, Mr. G4!

If Mr President can do something like this to subsidy cabals, then.... we're on our way to the promise land.

PATRIOTISM INSIDE COPRUPTION

You leave wetin u suppose read go dey read another person signature like say your own make sense sef. Anyway since u prefer reading signatures, you could as well read mine. Enjoy d pleasure.

Sack corrupt Ministers and not ministers without emblem.

The most important action is not important to Jonathan.

Why? Must they wear the Emblem? Is somebody thinking what am thinking? Is this a sign of membership of a ....,

Good

*speechless*

okay.

I make sure I buy one every year (to support the legionnaires).

NnamdiN: You leave wetin u suppose read go dey read another person signature like say your own make sense sef. Anyway since u prefer reading signatures, you could as well read mine. Enjoy d pleasure.

Lol@ursignature

^^^no be true talk?

While I appreciate GEJ's action (proceeds of the sale of Armed Forces and Remembrance Day emblems go to officers and men of the Nigerian Legion) I also hope that he would take action to ensure that the legionnaires get their pensions on time without having to go through cumbersome and degrading processes.

Thank God. GEJ is beginning to grow some balls.

So much indiscipline in that country a whole minister can't follow simple instruction and you leave them in charge of billions of Naira, plus what happened to the word Patriotic Nigerian, nawa sha where are we going as a people
,

Xplodes2700: Why? Must they wear the Emblem? Is somebody thinking what am thinking? Is this a sign of membership of a ....,

I am so sorry for you with this pathetic thinking of yours. Na wa for some Nigerians, why must everything have a negative meaning to it with some of you? Have you seen how the British wear their Remembrance emblems with so much pride a month or so even before Remembrance day in November every year. People actually go out of their ways to get this emblems, and churches and other charity organizations use these emblems to raise funds. yet in Nigeria with some of you it must be viewed with ulterior motives, oma she o.
Why can't we even show a little patriotism?? Is it rocket science?

It is a shame that a minister does not know the importance of the armed forces remembrance emblem. A nation cannot develop when her public servant are not patriotic.

jokers

Proceeds of the sale of the remembrance emblem go to the Nigerian Legion.

The Nigerian Legion is the Nigerian association of ex-servicemen, I.e former members of the Nigerian Army, Navy and Air Force (although I have never seen the likes of Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, or T.Y Danjuma associate with the Legion).

Officers and men of the armed forces are trained to fight and kill. When they retire, they discover that there are no jobs for them (some of them have been in the armed forces since they were teenagers and military work is all they know). Others were forced to retire from the armed forces due to injuries sustained in battle. The Legion helps them to integrate into society and take care of themselves.

By law the Legion is permitted to operate certain businesses in order to raise money for its members. Members of the legion also serve as security guards at government establishments (you often see them in their brown uniforms). The Legion also raises money through the sale of Armed Forces and Remembrance Day emblems.

In recent years (especially since the return to civilian rule) members of the Legion have gone through great hardship while trying to collect their pensions and gratuity. Sometimes their pensions are not paid for many months. At other times, legionnaires, who could be as old as 60, 70, or 80 years old are made to travel long distances and queue in the hot sun, all in the name of pension verification exercise. Many legionnaires have died during this process.

Officers and men of the Nigerian Armed Forces have fought in various wars and taken part in many peace keeping operations, defensive duties and internal security duties. These include

Wars including:

* The First World War
* The Second World War
* The Nigerian Civil War

Peace keeping operations in

* The Congo
* Tanzania
* Liberia
* Sierra Leone
* Lebanon
* Darfur
* The former Yugoslavia

Defensive duties including

* The Bamileke Rebellion
* Chadian Rebels (1982/83)
* The Bakassi Peninsula

Internal Security duties including

* The Tiv Rebellion
* The Western Region Crisis
* The Niger-Delta Crisis (1966)
* The Agbekoya Rebellion
* The Niger Delta Crisis (1992-2009)
* The Boko Haram Insurgency.

Anti-Robbery operations, including:

* Operation Sweep
* Rapid Response Squad
* Operation Yaki
* Operation Messa

Etc.

Ps 37:28..God is a lover of Justice.Psalm 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne.Don't joke with Justice dear GEJ if your throne is to be established.Thwarting justice is like thwarting God.What is good for the goose is good for the gander.Governors should listen to this.

..

[size=14pt]The Second World War[/size]

During the Second World War, the Regiment served in many parts of the world and played a distinguished part in the defeat of the Italians in East Africa and the Japanese in Burma. The Royal West Africa Frontier Force provided the largest colonial expeditionary force to leave any colony and it was a West African division which was the first ever to be entirely supplied by air. The following paragraphs give, but a brief outline of the most complex and diverse operations in which the Nigeria Regiment took part.


Troops of the Nigeria Regiment, 3rd West African Brigade (Thunder), boarding a Dakota Transport plane (circa 1943).

At the outbreak of the war, the Nigeria Regiment consisted of five regular battalions with supporting arms and services. In the early part of 1940, plans were made for the move of the 1st West African Brigade to East Africa. The Brigade consisting of 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions, Nigeria Regiment, 1st Light Battery, 1st Field Ambulance, 1st Infantry Brigade, Signals, and the 1st Field Company, R.E.; left Nigeria on June 3rd, 1940, together with a Gold Coast brigade. After taking part in the defence of Kenya, these brigades distinguished themselves in the Abyssinian Campaign. The Gold Coast brigade secured the west bank of the Juba after defeating the Italians at Bulo Erillo, whilst the Nigerian Brigade, by the capture of Merca, played an all-important part in the capture of Mogadishu. On February 13th, 1941, in company with the 22nd East African Brigade, the Nigerian Brigade advanced on Brava.

Despite their training in bush warfare based upon the lessons of the First World War and their short training in mobile warfare, they covered 600 miles between Mogadishu and Harar in twenty-six days, pushing the enemy before them and taking a number of guns, machine guns and prisoners. In the opinion of experts, this advance was the most rapid in the history of the East Africa Campaign.

The Brigade returned to Nigeria on September 5th, 1941 when it received an enthusiastic welcome and it provided the leaven of war-trained men for the great Expeditionary Force which was later to take part in the final defeat of the Japanese in Burma.

In 1940 it had not been anticipated that further troops would be required except for reinforcements and no further units were raised in the earlier part of the year. On the collapse of France in May and June, 1940 however, it was immediately decided to expand the Royal West African Frontier Force on a large scale and an extensive recruiting campaign was started. By the end of 1941 the Nigeria Regiment had, apart from other services, raised thirteen battalions.

These wartime battalions were built around a nucleus of 150 men from the old Reserve Battalion. The 7th Battalion came into official existence on June 8th, 1940 and from a cadre of this battalion a few months later and by local recruitment, the 12th battalion was raised.

Meanwhile the Reserve Battalion had moved to Enugu where the 9th Battalion, which was originally composed chiefly of Nigeria Police (including officers) with a few regular soldiers, was raised: after some time, some of the police were recalled and the battalion on its arrival at Sokoto in January 1941, (after a few months in Calabar) absorbed a large proportion of local recruits. At the same time, the battalions which were at first to make up the 6th Battalion, the 4th Brigade Group, were being formed at Kaduna and the 6th Brigade group was being established in Sierra Leone with the 4th and 11th Nigerian Battalions under command together with a Sierra Leonean and a Gambian battalion and mostly Sierra Leonean supporting arms and services.

In the early months of 1914 the 3rd Brigade Group consisting of 7th, 9th, and 12th Battalions, 3rd Light Battery, 3rd Brigade Group Company W.A.A.S.C, was formed with headquarters at Zaria. Later the 9th Battalion transferred to the 4th Brigade Group at Kaduna and the 6th Battalion came from that group to join the 3rd.

The 81st and 82nd West African Divisions were then formed for service in India and Burma. The Nigeria Regiment provided the 1st (West African) Infantry Brigade (1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions) the 3rd (West African) Infantry Brigade (5th, 9th and 10th Battalions) whilst the 4th and 11th Battalions had gone to Sierra Leone as part of the “mixed” 6th (West African) Infantry Brigade. When the Divisions went to India, the 11th Battalion remained in Sierra Leone and the 8th Battalion in Nigeria as holding battalions: the 13th Battalion was eventually disbanded and used to strengthen the 8th. In addition to these units with them supporting arms and services, the Royal West African Frontier Force also raised 43 Pioneer Companies and other group of 20 Garrison Companies which saw service in the Middle East, Palestine, Morocco and Sicily.

On their arrival in India in 1943, the 3rd (West African) Infantry Brigade was detached from the 81st (West African) Division and came under the command of General Wingate who was forming a “Special Force” to carry out the Second Chindit campaign. The remainder of the two divisions took part in the campaign in the Arakan.

A detailed and authentic history of the 1st (West African) Infantry Brigade in the Arakan has been published in “A Short History of the 1st (West African) Infantry Brigade in the Arakan 1944-45”.

It has been seen how the brigades came into being and that the history of the Arakan campaign is available for the students of the roles played by the 1st and 4th Brigades, but this account would be woefully incomplete, as there is nothing published without some special preference to the 3rd and 6th Brigades. The two West African Divisions were made up as follows: The 91st from the 3rd Nigerian Brigade Group, the 5th Gold Coast Brigade and the 6th Brigade with the 4th battalion of the Nigerian Regiment and Brigade groups from Sierra Leone and the Gambia and their supporting services, the 82nd from the 2nd Gold Coast and 1st and 4th Nigerian Brigades and the Nigerian Recce Regiment which became one of the greatest thorns in the Japanese side in Burma.

The original role of the 3rd Brigade was defence against Vichy French to the north and north-west of Nigeria and training was pursued with a view to fighting in open country and orchard bush. A similar role was the part of the 6th Brigade in Sierra Leone.

In August 1914, the 3rd Brigade Reconnaissance Company was formed and by January of the following year it had become a complete unit with a full complement of equipment. Meanwhile the first Auxiliary Group was being formed in Ibadan. They were originally W.A.A.S.C and enlisted as first-line carriers trained to arms and as stretcher-bearers: their services earned much praise later on in Burma and in Nigeria they undertook important duties on works of construction.

Training was interrupted intermittently from the middle of 1941 due to supposed threats of French invasion. The most important of these alarms was at the time of ‘Richelieu’ incident at Dakar and the last at the time of the British and American landings in North Africa in November, 1942. At that time, a brigade with a squadron of Free French Tanks was massed along the northern frontier of Nigeria ready to start a counter-offensive if the Vichy French should attack. All however, went off peacefully.

Following exercises in January 1943, the news of the future employment of the West African Expeditionary Force was divulged and from then onwards till embarkation there was feverish activity. Training in thick jungle fighting was carried out at the Olokemeji Battle School and in swamp fighting around Lagos.

On September 27, 1943 the brigade embarked at Lagos and landed in India on November 5, 1943.

The 3rd Brigade which was detached from the 81st (West African) Division was introduced to a very specialised form of warfare. Shorn of its Field Battery, Recce Squadron, Group Company and Auxiliary Group, the remaining units were reorganised into ‘columns’ two to each battalion. The columns were trained for long range penetration. Equipped with unfamiliar weapons including flame-throwers and carrying their heavier weapons on mules they were required to operate behind enemy lines dependent on air-supply drops and living for long periods on the rations they carried in their packs.

The brigade went into action alongside British and Ghurkha troops in March 1944. The Special Force’s object was to establish itself in the heart of Burma on the Japanese lines of communication supplying the Japanese forces including Assam and those retreating slowly in front of General Stilwell’s Chinese-American Army advancing on Myitkina from the north. Third Brigade’s initial role was to hold ‘fortresses’ on the lines of communication, based on which other columns operated against the Japanese.

The six Nigerian columns, having being flown into Burma from Assam, were concentrated near Mawlu in two fortresses, ‘Aberdeen’ and ‘White City’, 6th Battalion was at the road and rail block at White City, and 7th Battalion was allocated a mobile role in the White City area. White City was almost immediately subjected to a very strong Japanese ground and air attack which was successfully resisted during the whole of April. In May it was decided that Special Force should move northward to join forces with General Stilwell. White City, was evacuated, a column of 12th Nigeria Regiment being the last to leave and the brigade moved northward, fighting a series of actions on the way.

Concentrating in the area near Mogaung at the northern end of the “Railway Corridor”, later to be the main axis of the final victorious southward thrust into Burma, the brigade mounted a series of attacks on a strong Japanese defence position known as “Hill 60”. This position had orders to resist to the last man and succeded in holding out until eventually reduced by the British 36th Brigade heavily supported by artillery and air craft. Third Brigade had almost succeeded in capturing the feature on one occasion and only failed through lack of artillery and air support.

By this time the brigade had suffered heavy casualties. It had fought in the most appalling conditions through the heaviest rain for four months, living on hard rations – sometimes lucky to get five days rations in a week – and seldom having a roof over its head. When hill 60 had been taken, the brigade was therefore withdrawn and after a period of recuperation, started training again in Central India at the end of 1944 for a further campaign. This time, the three battalions were divided up among composite brigades of British and Gurkha troops, with whom the Nigerians established excellent relations.

The third Chindit campaign did not, however, materialise. The successful British advance in Burma had made long-range penetration no longer necessary or practicable, so Special Force was disbanded

Reorganised once more on orthodox lines, the brigade joined the 81st (West Africa) Division in an arear near Madras, where training was commenced for a sea-borne invasion of Malaya.

The 6th Brigade, including the 4th Battalion, Nigeria Regiment and the 6th Light Battery and a Field Survey Section, were in August 1943, the first West Africa troops to land in India. After training they proceeded to the Burma frontier area in the Arakan and before the end of the war, the 4th Battalion was established over the frontier on the headwaters of the Kaladan River valley which was the scene of its operations for nearly 14 months. The 4th Battalion was supplied entirely from the air , whilst a jeep track , known as “West Africa Way”, was constructed behind it through what seemed impossibly precipitous country. This remarkable feat covered no less than 73 miles. The rest of the Brigade and a Gold Coast brigade (the 5th) together forming the 81st Division, from which the 3rd Brigade had been detached to serve with the Chindit under General Wingate, followed and together were the first large force ever to be supplied entirely by air.

In the early months of 1944 the brigade advanced down the Kaladan valley as a left flank guard to the main 15th Indian Corps’ attack on Akyab. This attack for various reasons failed and though the 4th Battalion reached further south that year than any other large body of troops on the whole front. The division had to withdraw with the rest of the corps; after delaying tactics supported by detachments of the Reconnaissance Regiment, which up to this time had been undertaking aggressive landing operations along the coast towards Akyab, it held positions near the frontier throughout the monsoon and so forestalled the much vaunted Japanese advance on Calcutta.

The 4th Battalion led the return to Burma after the Monsoon by driving the Japanese off the precipitous slopes of Frontier Hill and the brigade advanced again down the Kaladan and parallel valleys. So successful was this outflanking movement, which was joined in January 1945 by the 82nd West African Division and resulted in joint capture by the two West African Divisions of Myohaung, that little resistance was put up in Akyab to the rest of the Corps. After the capture of Myohaung, the 81st Division, including the 6th Brigade, returned to India for rest and further training for an attack on Malaya, but an armistice was signed before this was launched. During the operation in the Kaladan Valley, the troops lived and fought in extreme jungle conditions, the only adjuncts of civilisation in the way of weapons, food, clothing, or shelter, being what they could carry themselves or what could be dropped from the air they faced these conditions for months on end in a way no other troops were ever called upon to do for such long periods. They acquitted themselves well and played a major part in driving the Japanese out of the Arakan.

The end of the war came before the West African Divisions could carry out their plans for the attack on Malaya and so, after a period of rest and vocational training in India, they returned to their home countries in 1946 with a record of which they could be well proud.

The Japanese were usually contemptuous of their foes and the following extract from a captured Japanese war diary is therefore worth recording.

The enemy soldiers are not from Britain but from Africa. Because of their belief, they are not afraid to die, so even if their comrades have fallen they keep on advancing as if nothing had happened. It makes things rather difficult. They have an excellent physique and are very brave, so fighting against these soldiers is somewhat troublesome.

The following are some of the honours won by Nigerian troops of the Royal West African Frontier Force during the Second World War 1939-1946: Distinguished Conduct Medal, 8; Military Medal, 58; British Empire Medal, 20; Mention in Despatches, 243; Certificates of Good Service, 39; Act of Gallantry, 1.

Myohaung Day ( January 24th) is the annual day of remembrance in honour of Nigerian soldiers killed in Burma. November 11th of each year is the annual commemoration day of Nigerian soldiers killed in the two World Wars.

Oops! Forgetful me. I meant to post a documentary on West African participation in the First and Second World War, but I totally forgot.

Barnaby Philips was the BBC's Nigeria correspondent in the early 2000s/late '90s (I remember when President Obasanjo tongue lashed him during an edition of the Presidential Media Chat). He did a documentary in which he interviewed some Nigerians and Ghanaians who fought in the Second World War. I first heard that documentary in the late '90s/early 2000s. He is now an Al-Jazeera correspondent and he did this documentary for them. Enjoy "Burma Boy".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BREOezfAJSU

GARRI (x7):
@OP: With that silly signature of ur, I wonder how you expect this thread to make front-page....

Meanwhile I know where I stand in the ranking in case it makes front-page

iran were dun wo sugbon ko se n bi ni omo(very intresting watching a madman displaying but no one dares praying to give birth to a madman)

NnamdiN: You leave wetin u suppose read go dey read another person signature like say your own make sense sef. Anyway since u prefer reading signatures, you could as well read mine. Enjoy d pleasure.

i wonder o! Instead of him to tackle issue, he is tackling tissue.

In the past Remembrance Day was held on November 11th all across the english speaking world (although it's called Veteran's Day in the US). After Murtala Mohammed's assassination the Nigerian government decided to shift the event to February 15th. It's now called Armed Forces and Remembrance Day.

The emblem is designed to look like a poppy flower. After Murtala Mohammed's assassination, an image, which looked like Murtala's image, was included in the emblem. It has now been removed and replaced with an image of the unknown soldier.

In recent years, it has been common to see members of the Nigerian Legion on remembrance day, complaining about unpaid pensions and maltreatment.

A new innovation was added to the event when widows of deceased servicemen were allowed to lay wreaths during the ceremony.

Ii hope that in future, the government would also use the day to demonstrate genuine empathy and reconciliation by taking care of the veterans (especially the disabled veterans) at the Biafra veterans camp.