Celebrating the Nigerian Soldier

It is doubtful if many Nigerians know that we are in a very important week. It is the week of the Nigerian soldier; the week in which January 15, the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, falls on. January 15 each year is set aside to celebrate Nigerian soldiers: soldiers who gave their lives fighting for our country to remain as an indivisibly entity; soldiers who died on tours of duty in Burma, Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan etc.; soldiers who died in the creeks of the Niger Delta on national assignments; soldiers who are dying in installments from the injuries they sustained while on duty; and even the healthy retired soldiers who survived these wars and battles.

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To the average Nigerian, there is nothing significant about the week-long celebrations, which climax on January 15. The few Nigerians, who know about the day, see it as just an official celebration involving top government functionaries and military men. And the routine is well known by the few: prayers are offered for fallen soldiers and veterans in select churches on the Sunday that falls on the week, and in mosques on the Friday of the week and on the day proper, government officials lay wreathes on the cenotaphs of the "unknown soldiers" in the state capitals and the Federal Capital Territory- and of course, they usually praise the bravery of the members of the Nigerian legion and promise to pay their pensions on time even though this may never happen.

In contrast, when November 15, the Veterans' Day in the United States or the Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom, draws nigh, the whole country becomes electrified, as everyone is eager to remember, in a special way, soldiers, who gave their lives for their country. In the UK, for instance, many people raise funds for the veterans and give them emotional support by buying (and wearing) the red poppy brooch sold by the Royal British Legion. 

But it is not just the fallen soldiers and veterans that are celebrated in the UK. In fact, they do not wait for their soldiers to die or retire before they are celebrated. Serving soldiers are also celebrated. For instance, when British soldiers return from tours of duty, they usually parade the centres of the town or city where their regiments are based. During these parades, the town or city usually stands still for them. Residents encourage them by waving the St. George's flag and carry placards with inscriptions that eulogise them (the soldiers) for their gallantry and rare patriotism. And any soldier, who exhibits rare bravery during the tour, is usually decorated by the Queen.
The parade gives the soldiers a sense of belonging and makes them feel appreciated. It makes them feel encouraged and privileged to be British soldiers. It makes them, willing, indeed eager, to put in more in their service to Her Majesty. At such times, their pride knows no bound. 

In 2008, during one of such parades in Luton, Bedfordshire, protesters, alleged to be Islamic extremists, hauled abuses at the soldiers, accusing them of murder in Iraq and Afghanistan. That abuse drew the ire of the majority of the locals, and instantaneously, they avenged for the soldiers. They turned on the protesters and yelled insults at them, telling them to direct their protest to Westminster and leave the soldiers who exhibited patriotism through their tour of duty. 

But the protest never dampened the moral of the 200 men and women from the 2nd Battalion of the The Royal Anglian Regiment. At the end of the parade, an army spokesman said the troops had been "deeply touched" by the support despite the disturbance, adding that there was no better boost to a soldier than to see hundreds of people turn out to watch them during parades. 

Right from the early days of the Nigeria's Independence, our soldiers have displayed rare bravery in international peace keeping operations. In the early 1960s, Nigerian troops distinguished themselves in the United Nations Peacekeeping mission in the Congo. In fact, Gen. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, who later became the country's first military Head of State, was later made the commander of that UN mission.
The success story of the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group in peacekeeping within the West African sub-region will be incomplete without the Nigerian Army. One can recall that rebel forces loyal to Yomi Johnson were able to capture the former Liberian President, Samuel Doe, only when a non- Nigerian commanded the ECOMOG troops. 

In spite of these heroics, we tend to be allergic to celebrating our soldiers. I cannot recall anytime any of our soldiers, who exhibited rare courage while on a tour of duty, was awarded a medal and decorated by the President. Or don't we have extraordinarily courageous soldiers?
I cannot also recall any time when Nigerian soldiers, who completed their tours of duty, marched through the streets of the town or village where their regiments are based to the admiration of the locals. Our soldiers return from tours of duty unheralded and at times demoralised. Imagine how proud our soldiers will be if we wave our lovely green-white- green flag and eulogise them while they are marching through our streets on return from tours of duty. Indeed, it will be a great encouragement to them. 

I think it will be a good idea for our soldiers to parade the streets to our admiration when they return from tours of duty. But my worry is that there may be no civilian to appreciate them. This is because the average Nigerian military man tends to loathe civilians. Every non-soldier is a bloody civilian and as such inferior. There is a popular saying among the military, which goes thus: civi na villain. And so, for no just cause they treat us as villains. Our vehicles are forced out of the roads for an officer's vehicle to pass. Overzealous soldiers eager to impress their officers beat defenceless citizens to stupor. And the officers who should be gentlemen tend to get their kicks by watching us being terrorised by soldiers. How then can 'villains' waste their precious times to wave the green-white-green flag and sing praises of their oppressors? 

The many years of military involvement in politics helped perpetrate and perpetuate this divide. When the soldiers left the barracks and began to meddle into civilian matters what did they expect? Didn't the holy book warn that soldiers should not get involved in civilian affairs? The military encroachment into politics, indeed, did them more harm than good. It may have created billionaire serving and retired military officers but it killed professionalism and diminished, considerably, the respect civilians have for the military. 

Soldiers are not supposed to be seen as oppressors. Civilians should see soldiers as patriotic citizens who put their lives on the line to protect them (civilians) from local insurgents or foreign expansionists. But civilians will only change their perception of the military when they are shown respect by the latter. There is, therefore, the need to harmonise relationship between the military and civilians. The military needs a new image. To put it in a now fashionable parlance, the Nigerian military needs re-branding. 

The military authorities should drum it into the consciousness of their officers and men that they are subject to civil rule and that it is unprofessional to get involved in civilian affairs unless when called upon to do so. Soldiers, who bully civilians, should be made to pay dearly for it. And recruits in Nigerian Military Depot as well as officer cadets in Nigerian Defence Academy should be warned of the consequences of testing their strength on civilians.
Without a doubt, such a reformed military would elicit respect and appreciation from civilians. We will become proud of their achievements. And whenever they return from their tours of duty and parade our streets, we would gladly leave our duty posts to welcome them by waving our green- white-green flags and singing their praises. Even when they are short-changed by their finance departments, we will not mind trooping to the streets with placards protesting on their behalf because a labourer - a gallant one at that - deserves his wages. And when they finally become ex-servicemen, we will be glad to raise funds for them, at least, to show our gratitude to them for putting their lives on the line for our country.