President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, has urged Nigerians to continue to support the Armed Forces of Nigeria with prayers and information, in their quest to securing the nation from aggressors.
Lawan made the call Friday, at the Special Jumma’at Prayer, held as part of activities lined up to celebrate the 2022 Armed Forces Day Celebration (AFRDC), at the National Mosque Abuja.
He said every Nigerian owed the military, the duty to support and pray for their successes in all their operations towards ensuring peace in the country.
The Senate President assured the armed forces that the National Assembly would continue to work with the Executive, to provide the needed platform and equipment for the armed forces.
He commended the armed forces for the sacrifices so far made by officers and men, in the defence of Nigeria as well as the fight against the various forms of insecurity across the country.
“In the National Assembly, we believe that we should continue to support the armed forces through appropriation and any legislative intervention that will enhance their performance.
“Therefore, we will continue to support the armed forces working with the Executive arm of the government.
“So far, we have done a lot by giving the armed forces, special appropriation, through the supplementary budget of 2021 and of course, the 2022 appropriation that Mr President signed last week.
“We are going with that trend, and I want to make an appeal to all Nigerians to also pray for the success of the armed forces, and that is the least anybody can do.
“I believe that we have that responsibility, in fact an obligation, that in our official capacities, we are supposed to do that and even in our private capacities, we are supposed to do that and continuously too
“So, I use this opportunity to emphasise the need for all of us Nigerians to continue to support our armed forces and other security agencies, not only in these kinds of special occasions, but all of the time.
“This is because what they do is the most patriotic show any Nigerian can give when someone can sign off for the sake of his country,” he said.
The Chief Imam of the National Mosque, Dr Muhammed Adam, said the prayer was set aside to remember the fallen heroes, who sacrificed their lives in defence of Nigeria and to ensure peace in the country.
Adam said the session admonished all Nigerians to always pray for the nation’s armed forces to succeed while urging all Nigerians to repent to do good for Allah by showing mercy and bring the present situation to glorious end.
He also called on Nigerians to supply the needed information and intelligence that would help the security agencies in identifying the hideouts of the criminals.
According to him, Nigerians have to do this, to support the military in carrying out their constitutional responsibilities.
“We pray for Allah SWT to strengthen the Nigerian Armed Forces, as well as all security agencies in this country.
“May Allah also strengthen the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to continue to steer the ship of the country in the right direction,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (,NAN) reports that the Jumma’at prayer would be followed by an Interdenominational Church Service on Sunday across the country, before the main ceremony on Jan. 15 at the National Arcade.
This ceremony will also involve the laying of wreaths by the President and other government functionaries, at the National arcade and other states across the country.