2026 ARMED FORCES REMEMBRANCE DAY IN APOSTOLIC SPIRIT OF NATIONAL CITIZENS CONVERSATION.
… National Citizens Conversation
1966 – 2026: The Burden of Memory and the Future of Nigeria
State Correspondent
Distinguished national voices will once again converge as the Apostolic Round Table (ART). ART announces the 2026 National Citizens Conversation, scheduled to hold on 15th January 2026 in Abuja, FCT, in alignment with the national observance of Armed Forces Remembrance Day.
The Apostolic Round Table continues its commitment to raising Stewards of Nations—men and women labouring to see Nigeria align with her divine purpose and national destiny. Building on the success of the 2025 Edition tagged “One Nigeria”, the 2026 Round Table is designed to advance the call for unity by laying a stronger intellectual, moral, and spiritual foundation for One United Nation.
Theme
1966 – 2026: The Burden of Memory and the Future of Nigeria
Sixty years after the defining events of 1966, Nigeria stands once again at a historic crossroads. January 15 evokes the memory of the 1966 coup, the counter-coup, and the tragic civil war that ravaged the nation from 1967 to 1970. These events profoundly shaped Nigeria’s political architecture, civil-military relations, ethnic consciousness, and national psyche.
For decades, this memory has been marked largely by grief, loss, suspicion, and unresolved questions.
The recent announcement by the Federal Government renaming Armed Forces Remembrance Day as Armed Forces Celebration and Remembrance Day signals more than a change of nomenclature. It represents a deliberate attempt to reframe national memory—to move from mourning alone to meaning, from trauma to transformation, and from peril to purpose.
However, the Apostolic Round Table affirms that no government policy can, by itself, convert pain into celebration. That responsibility rests squarely with the citizens.
A celebration that heals cannot be legislated; it must be owned, interpreted, and lived by the people. Only through honest dialogue, shared responsibility, and collective introspection can citizens redeem memory and reimagine the future.
Purpose of the National Citizens Conversation
The Apostolic Round Table – National Citizens Conversation 2026 provides a strategic, reflective, and forward-looking platform where citizens—beyond government—can:
Reflect honestly on Nigeria’s historical journey
Examine the burden of unresolved national memory
Reinterpret January 15 beyond fear and fracture
Transform remembrance into responsibility
Foster national healing through truth and dialogue
Inspire a new generation of patriotic leadership and civic stewardship
Chart pathways toward unity, justice, and sustainable nationhood
This engagement is premised on a simple but profound truth:
A nation that refuses to interrogate its memory cannot secure its future.
From Remembrance to Redemption
The Apostolic Round Table believes that celebration does not deny pain; rather, it redeems it. True celebration emerges when lessons are learned, justice is pursued, unity is intentionally built, and citizens accept stewardship of the nation.
This National Citizens Conversation is therefore a call to conscience and ownership—to move beyond inherited grief into collective healing and national purpose.
Nigeria’s future will not be shaped merely by what we remember, but by how we remember and what we choose to build from it.
This conversation will feature the participation of thought leaders such as;
Senator Shehu Sani
Dr. Akin Fapohunda
Da Jonathan Sunday Akuns
Engr. Buba Galadima
Dr. D. N. Okechukwu and
Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi
📅 Date: 15th January 2026
📍 Venue: FCT, Abuja
🌐 Online Participation: Via ART-TV
https://youtube.com/@apostolicroundtable?si=LQjfuBsWUEuQEVQ8
📞 Registration & Enquiries: Visit https://www.artintl.org/
or call 08033041236
Signed:
Pastor Gboyega Johnson
Director of Confidence
Apostolic Round Table (ART).
