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Battle With Terrorists Is A Reminder That Freedom Is Not Free – Osinbajo

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the battle with Boko Haram and Isis West Africa, operating as small, even if deadly guerilla bands, in parts of Borno State, sharply reminded Nigerians that “freedom is not free” and that peace is often paid for with blood and gore.
Osinbajo, who spoke today, Sunday on the Army Remembrance Day in Abuja, stressed that no Nation can secure its territory without the selflessness and the supreme sacrifices of many.
He recalled that in the past few years, Nigerians have seen patriotism at its highest, saying: “our valiant men and women of the Armed Forces have destroyed the backbone of Boko Haram who once attacked Abuja, Kano and Kaduna, with impunity and hoisted their tattered flags over 17 Local Governments in the North East of Nigeria.”
The Vice President referred to the saying that the nation’s flag does not fly because the wind moves it,  but with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.
“So as we celebrate this Remembrance Day, we solemnly thank the Almighty God for giving us men and women ready to obey the call to fight and if need be, die for the fatherland.
“We are grateful that they were faithful to the cause, that they did not betray the trust of millions, that they gave up all the comforts of life and the love and affection of family that we may enjoy the same.
“Our posthumous thanks to them and their families, who not only bore the fearful apprehension of their going to war, but also the heartbreak of their deaths.  But our gratitude must also mean a commitment to ensuring that their families are cared for, that their children do not ask why the sacrifices they made were made at all.
“As important is to ensure that they did not die in vain, this unity and territorial integrity of the nation, for which they died, must not be jeopardized by the reckless utterances and actions, which play on the religious and ethnic fault lines of our Nation.
“The ordinary people of Nigeria have demonstrated time and time again, that they share common problems and that they have a common destiny. The desire for food, shelter, clothing and decent jobs is not blinkered by tribe, tongue or faith. Our unity and peaceful coexistence is the best tribute to our fallen heroes.”
Vice President Osinbajo paid special tribute to “the bold and brave departed and their families who daily pay the supreme sacrifice by their loss.”

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