By Hawwah
Abdullahi Gambo
I was not surprised that soldiers from the newlyformed 7th Division of the Nigerian Army attacked their General Officer Commanding(GOC),Major General Abubakar Mohammed, who assumed dutyinFebruary 2014.
In military terms, this is referred to as mutiny.Encarta defines it as ‘rebellion against legal authority, especially by soldiers or sailors refusing to obey orders, and oftenattacking their officers’.Wikipediadefines it as ‘a criminal conspiracy among a group ofindividuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow lawful authority towhich they are subject’.
However, the term is most commonly used for ‘rebellion’ against superior officers.Even though aI am a fan of men in uniform, eventhe Nigeria Police despite their lack of integrity, theNigerian Army has over the years lost its respect and credibility inmy eyes as well as that of many Nigerians.
When I reflect on the Nigerian military of years ago, the present one seems to look more like Boys Scouts.Perhaps it is because I assume every military man should be of thepedigree of people like Generals Muhammadu Buhari, Yakubu Gowon and Murtala Muhammed. Perhaps we rate them based on the slim and fitphysique, discipline, honesty, patriotism, accountability and bravery;and that is why they fail.
The Nigerian military today, boasts of pot-bellied officers and men. Officers with more money than the institutions they are heading. But because in the military no questions are asked and Nigeria currentlyruns the most corrupt government in history, these officers acquire wealth and property way above their means with impunity.
That was how the Nigerian military turned itself into one of theagencies rife with so much corruption in Nigeria – if only betweenJanuary and April, this year N130.7billion had beenreleased to the Ministry of Defence for military operations, then,the amount spent from 2008 when insurgency began to date is better imagined.
According reports last week, the soldiers became enraged whenthey sighted bodies of their fallen and injured colleagues.The restive soldiers complained that their superior have not providedthem with adequate weaponry with which to fight the war against the better-armed Boko Haram militants. They also complained that thecommanding officers are too busy ‘eating’ money, and they do not pay them their allowances on time. They added that once a soldierdies, nobody knows what happens to his allowances.
Not surprising, because to be candid, the military we all knew as a children and in movies are worlds apart from what is obtainable now.They always have their commanding officers in the forefront ofeverything – battles, hunting, surveillance, intelligence, planning, etc. But, the Nigerian military officers will remain in thecomfort of their offices giving command to their troops, while at thesame time compromising on many things; top on the list of which istheir welfare.
Officers in the military compromise greatly the welfare of their menfor their own personal benefits. I remember meeting a man who justcame back from operation in Maiduguri, relating his gory tale of howtheir commander tells them that ‘he is ready to sacrifice as many menas possible to enable him achieve his goals’.
I sympathise with the men manning road blocks andthose on special operations. Some of them spend months, almost a yearwithout going home. And their allowances are NEVER given to them infull. The superior officer(s) take their share; trimming it to a veryminute percentage of the actual amount. Even those that died on dutyare not left out. Their families either never get his entitlementsor they receive only half of it.
The way the Nigerian military officers are living big, way above their means,is one of the reasons Nigerians believe that Boko Haram is indeed a redflag operation. They live in big houses, buy choice properties, boththem and members of their family drive exotic cars, travel abroad forvacation, etc. This is something that should be questioned because therecannot be such flamboyance on one hand, and lack of weaponry to fight Boko Haram on the other amidst such huge budgetary provisions for security.
The superior military officers are actually living like billionaires,while the men can hardly feed their families; and it is the men thatdo all the work and take all the risks. The recent mutiny is actually an explosion of pent upgrievancesbecause it did not begin with the commanding officer in question. Hejust consolidated on what his predecessors had been doing before hegot there; he was just the scape- goat.
And the commanding officers were just carrying over what happens intheir various offices. Corruption in the Nigerian military did not begin with the Boko Haram insurgency, and may certainly not die with it; whichmakes mutiny a time bomb just waiting to explode. Unless and until corruption is checked and the corrupt officers brought to book, this is just the beginning. After all, soldiers are not wood.
