This is certainly not the best of times for the Nigerian military. It has continued to remain in the news for the very wrong and bizarre reasons. It is either the Abubakar 'lunatic' Shekau led Boko Haram group is forcing its officers to consider a 'tactical maneuver' into Cameroun borders or officers within the force are engaging each other in needless internal bickering. As things presently are, our entire military set up appears to have lost the verve and patriotic fanaticism to meaningfully prosecute the insurgency conundrum.
The military is presently enmeshed in another round of fresh controversy. Just last week, the media reported the shocking verdict of a court martial that tried 18 military officers for allegedly attacking Major General Ahmed Mohammed, the General Officer Commanding of the 7th Division, Maiduguri over the mindless killing of their colleagues by insurgents. Delivering the judgement, leader of the court martial, Brigadier General Chukwuemeka Okonkwo, sentenced 12 of the 18 officers to death by firing squad. Expectedly, the verdict elicited loads of reactions, with many queuing behind the 'condemned' military officers.
These men truly don't deserve to die. Their action only drew global attention to the chronic stench, endemic rot, mega fraud and cesspool of corruption that the Nigerian military has become. Their action exposed a military where its top brass feeds fat on its budget, sell arms and ammunitions to insurgents and arms its junior officers with dane guns to confront heavily armed insurgents in the north east.
Frankly speaking, those presiding over the affairs of the entire military make-up in Nigeria are the very problem bedevilling the institution. These same elements are chiefly responsible for why the war on terror isn't recording spectacular success as expected. The surest way to meaningfully take this war against terror to the bedroom of Abubakar Shekau and his fellow lunatics is to wield the big stick on the military's top brass. Certainly, some of them should be shown the next available exit route. The nation cannot continue to shoulder the enormous wage bill of trained military officers who cannot live up to the task of stoutly defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria. It is sheer waste of resources and wickedness to allow these guys spend more days in their respective offices.
I recently stumbled on two different pictures of our past and present high ranking military officers. The first one had General Muhammadu Buhari, late Col. Hassan Usman Katsina and late Benjamin Adekunle ( Black Scorpion). The second picture featured Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, Chief of Army Staff, Kenneth Minimah and Chief of Air Staff, Adeshola Amosu. One striking deference in those two pictures was that, while the first picture had showed smart, trimmed, combatant-ready and flat-bellied senior military men, the second one had pot-bellied, glutinous and cheeky officers struggling to move their massive body frames.
How do one expect these heavily pregnant men to be up and doing? The only thing these crop of officers sure know how to do is to quaff liquor day and night. It is indeed a big risk entrusting the security of our 160 million human population into the hands of these elements presently heading our entire military architecture.
These guys are incharge of the military's budget. They decide who gets what, when and how. Instead of spending these humongus funds on the junior officers who put their lives on the line day and night under very difficult circumstances, these fat pigs sit comfortable in their cosy offices in Abuja and share the money amongst themselves. Is this how to fight insurgency? I really pity these junior military officers defending the nation in the killing field that the entire north east has infamously transformed into. Those guys are only surviving Boko Haram's deadly onslaught by God's mercy and not because they have the arms to match the group's fire-power. Nothing close to that. What is keeping them alive is the fervent prayers of their families and loved ones. Each time I drive past military checkpoints in the country, I make effort to interact with the officers mounting them. I always feel pushed to ask certain questions, most importantly, their welfare and families. It takes raw courage to look into their blood-shot eyes. They wear very disturbing and menacing looks.
One once narrated a bone-piercing story of how they hardly get any other extra pay for keeping vigil on our deadly roads apart from their monthly salary! No allowances! Nothing for upkeep. These guys are left to fend for themselves. Ironically, their colleagues 'attending' to files in the Defence HQ all have allowances clearly calculated and paid weekly into their personal accounts. You really need to visit the Defence HQs in Abuja to see the opulence military men are swimming in. They appear in very neat, clean and starched uniforms. You don't see them jumping taxes, because they all have cars.
Before either the President or the head of the military signs the death warrant of these super heroes, Nigerians and indeed the world request that the army's top echelon should first and foremost subject itself to public scrutiny. Those who wish to go to equity must keep their hands clean. The military's top brass should tell us in unambiguous terms how they have been expending the huge yearly budget approved for the entire military. We expect them to give detailed account of how they have spent or managed the money. It is only after then that they can go ahead to approve the firing of these men accused of committing insurrection.
I keep saying this. The allege attack on Major General Ahmed Mohammed wasn't a premeditated one. The said soldiers were helpless and frustrated. They felt the system deliberately ordered them to the war front without first and foremost providing them with all they needed to prosecute the war.
This is one case that most Nigerians won't want to see it go the way of others. These guys shouldn't be left to die. Let's all rise in their support. We may not know any of these officers, but they remain our brothers and heroes. They weren't conscripted into the Nigerian Army. They willingly applied to serve their fatherland, hoping that our country will be better for it at the end. Unfortunately, instead of getting medals, cash rewards or national honour for service to fatherland, the same country has concluded plans to end their lives rather prematurely by face firing squad should their appeal fails to go scale through.
Let us all rise and condemn this inhumanity to humanity. You cannot beat a child and expect him not to cry. We sent them to the war front with dane guns and expect them to crush Boko Haram in one fell swoop. These 12 military men are my heroes. They only spoke truth to power and nothing more. God bless Nigeria.
Yunusa wrote in from Imane in Kogi state; [email protected]