Look around you and you will
find retired soldiers and policemen who have been owed multiple months of
pension and outstanding gratuity. We just witnessed a couple of them team up to
express their dissatisfaction about this malodourous treatment for the people
who served with blood and might. Is this fair, Nigeria? The joy of any retiree
is to get his or stipend coming so as to keep ends meet in the post-service
life. This is not the case for most of our heroes past. The living are wailing
while the dead are getting one minute silence every year. So how will a
right-thinking human be ready to sacrifice his life for a course that wouldn’t
pay him back except with an annual minute of silence?
The federal republic of
Nigeria has set aside the 15th of January as the special day for the
remembrance of our fallen Men and Women in the Armed forces. These individuals
who have taken it upon themselves to defend Nigeria and uphold her unity even
when it means risking their lives, should not be described less than Heroes. I’m
in support of the yearly celebration and will also do all I can to show my
allegiance to the sovereignty of the world’s largest black nation. However, I
have some reservations as to the mode of remembrance.
The ideal way of truly rewarding our heroes
is to pay them their dues, properly equip them with technological gadgets and provide
them with better conditions of service before they become “Our Heroes Past”. I
know high ranking officers in the army enjoy life like the biblical kings, so
this is more about the low-level officers on the field. For many years now,
since the BokoHaram insurgency started tearing apart the fabric of our
togetherness, we have lost countless of soldiers to a battle without
definition. Do we have a record for these fallen heroes? If yes, are they properly
documented and accessible for NGOs and well-meaning Nigerians to support their
families? Who takes care of their families after they are gone? We must stop
wasting the lives of our armed forces.
The fear of
Sambisa is the beginning of wisdom. Have you seen soldiers seriously begging
their superiors not to be posted to the warfront? Yes, it happens. Because a
man is in the Camo Uniform doesn’t make him less than a human. He has got his
life, his wi(ves), his children and loved ones to miss. More realistically, he has got blood flowing in his veins. What if the inevitable
happens due to a negligence that is not from him? When you are facing an enemy
carrying an M-SMG Riffle and all you have is an AK-47, you should reason well
before going out on the mission. An African proverb says the “The best soldier
is the one who knows how to fight and how to retreat”. Just recently we had
over fifty (50) of our soldiers sentenced to death after being charged for
mutiny. I asked a question, “which country mutiny dey fight for?”
My research
only showed me that Mutiny is the military jargon for disobedience to the head
r authority. If these soldiers have disobeyed or refused to fight the enemy,
then they must have a particular reason for that action. Again, the reason must
also be peculiar as over fifty respected humans can’t be all dumb at the same
time. . No one would hear the date of his death and be happy, especially when
the circumstances surrounding the assignment are shady. Who cares to ask about
their welfare? Yet, the soldiers cannot be granted a voice to tell the true
story behind those charges. I’ll say the more befitting way to celebrate 15th
January is for all Nigerians to sign the petition to get those soldiers freed.
Equipping our military is a task
we cannot but rise up to as nation, if only the government means business on its
basic responsibility of security. With all the magnanimous budgetary allocations
for security in the year 2012, 2013 and 2014 coupled with the recent borrowing of
$1 billion loan, I think improper equipment should be the last virus in our
chest. But, what can we say? I’ll also opine that instead of always having a
minute silence for lost ones, including our honourable fallen heroes, wouldn’t
it rather be better for us to offer them a one-minute prayer. A minute spent in
prayer is worthy than a minute spent in silence.
If you hear kaukau, take
cover! Your closest cover is the ground. Just lie flat. That's a lesson from Security 101. May the gentle souls of
our fallen heroes rest in peace. May the outstanding pensions and gratuities of
our retired heroes be paid on time. May our standing heroes, still in service,
be well-equipped and given better conditions of service. Please say Amen if you
truly care. Happy Armed Forces Remembrance Day, Nigeria.
Thanks for reading. Don’t
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Emdee cares.
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