Anayo Okoli
13 January 2009
Umuahia-ABIA state Government has urged the Federal Government to rehabilitate the National War Museum in Umuahia and equip it with necessary facilities that would place it ahead of any tourist place in the country with a view to attracting international tourists.The Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Chris Akomas, made the call in his address at a church service held at Mater Dei Cathedral to mark the 2009 Armed Forces and Remembrance Day.
Akomas, who represented Governor Theodore Orji, said that the War Museum, if well taken care of, would serve as a revenue earner as well as provide employment to the people. According to him, it would also serve as an education centre "to teach our children that at one time something happened and it should not be allowed to happen again".
The deputy governor also tasked the federal government on the proper rehabilitation of the inmates of the Oji River Rehabilitation Centre in Enugu State, lamenting that the place has become an eye sore and unfit for human habitation. Akomas said that "it is a shame that many members of the Nigeria Legion are begging in order to survive", and called for a better deal for them.
According to him, the Armed Forces and Remembrance Day which holds every January would make no meaning unless serious action was taken to make the war veterans to be "skilfully relevant in their localities", by means of a progressive and consistent approach, thereby making them contribute to the nation building.
In his homily at the church service, the Catholic Bishop of Umuahia, Rt. Rev Lucius Ugorji, condemned the use of violence as a means of expressing anger and warned that violence has never solved any problem.
"We must therefore say no to violence and promote peace in our country", Ugorji appealed.
Bishop Ugorji recalled the various wars that have been fought around the world, the Nigerian civil war inclusive, and noted that tragic destruction of lives and properties through wars have failed to solve any problem, saying that peace remains the best option.
According to Ugorji, development contributes to a peaceful world and urged government at all levels to take the path of massive development instead of engaging in institutionalized violence such as economic war, denial of human rights and abortion, among negative vices.
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