On Sunday, January 15, Nigerian governments marked the Armed Forces Remembrance Day with the laying of wreaths at cenotaphs across the country. While President Muhammadu Buhari (himself an ex-military general and war commander) did so in Abuja, the state governors had theirs in their state capitals. In years gone by, this ceremony also happened in local government headquarters. But all that has been scaled down now with the Armed Forces Remembrance Day in practice consigned to a governmental and elitist memorial.
This time last year, I wrote about the annual event and used it to raise consciousness on the need to recognise, celebrate and manage our military establishment better. I intend this time to rehash the previous commentary I entitled, “Memory, Remembrance and Closure”, to bring it to speed with current realities.
Armed Forces Remembrance is an opportunity to remember our military men and women who died for the country in various conflicts and wars over the years. It is also a time for citizens to stand in solidarity with the troops who are always defending their country. Typically, November 11, also known as the Armistice Day, is popularly celebrated in many countries of the West (the US, the UK and their former colonies) as armed forces remembrance day, as that day marked the end of the First World War in 1918. Nigeria however celebrates this event on or about January 15, to commemorate the date of their internal incidents in 1966 that led to the Nigerian Civil War and the date in 1970 that marked the end of the war.
The Armed Forces Remembrance Day would be more meaningful if more than the one-month long activities are made to involve ordinary and regular citizens, rather than restrict it to an elitist activity. I recall that in the 1970s and up to sometime in the 1980s and early 1990s,
Armed Forces Remembrance Days and the remembrance emblems or poppies were still very popular. In fact, you could pick up the poppies so easily from military personnel who sold them at street corners. They even brought them to schools, church premises and everywhere else they were sure to meet a crowd to patronise the sales.
Today, even those who want to identify with the military during this time find it difficult to see the commemorative items to buy. Little wonder that many citizens are ignorant of the events and seem to identify the pin-up as something to do with government officials. What is it with our undue elitism in this country? Why isn’t the poppy readily available in neighbourhood shops just like the ubiquitous ‘recharge cards’? After all, the soldiers we honour and remember with the poppy are people who serve the entire country.
In some other countries of the world, the poppy is seen everywhere when they have their remembrances. In the UK, citizens have gone
beyond individual pin-ups. I have seen wreaths and remembrance emblems designed for and used on cars and on doors and windows of houses. Some families even design memorial wreaths in their flower gardens in front of their houses, especially for specific family members who died as military personnel. Members of the military are simply regarded as heroes.
beyond individual pin-ups. I have seen wreaths and remembrance emblems designed for and used on cars and on doors and windows of houses. Some families even design memorial wreaths in their flower gardens in front of their houses, especially for specific family members who died as military personnel. Members of the military are simply regarded as heroes.
The above is hardly so in Nigeria. No doubt, our military, especially their top echelons have not always helped matters by not regularly showing a high level of professionalism, discipline and patriotism expected of the military institution. One way they can help keep the confidence and respect of the populace is to distance themselves completely from partisan politics. This has brought many a military officer and institution to ruin. Our recent electoral history has exposed some intrusive and obstructive conduct of military personal and this must be curtailed.
It is highly probable if not apparent from our history that some of the military men and women we remember died avoidable deaths. And for any of such deaths it is not too much to ask the state to unravel the circumstances and deal with every criminality involved, as a means to providing real closure for such cases and for their families.
For instance, it is now a known fact that high-level of unprofessionalism; blended with a high degree of corruption within the military hierarchy were a major reason our military lost many of its personnel in the war against terror. The findings of a panel that investigated procurements by the military in the recent past showed corruption in military procurement and this can be linked directly to the deaths of many Nigerian combatants who were simply sent to face death in the name of fighting insurgents.
Other cases of massive corruption that have now been exposed within the military administration are quite sickening and show a putrid system which stench can suffocate any sound mind. The more recent cases trump previous ones like those under military governments. I recall the revelations at the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission otherwise called the Oputa Panel, constituted under the Obasanjo civilian administration. The revelations then showed that the military institution under the military governments, especially those headed by Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha had reached the nadir of our humanity.
The dog-eat-dog attitudes of the military officers in the previous military governments were horrifying enough. They are not justifiable in any manner but could at least be explained away as a no-limits-recognised effort by military men to outwit one another in order to achieve their selfish gains of career growth and access to political positions. But the more recent revelations under a civilian government show a callous sell out of compatriots and comrades to a criminal organisation attempting to supplant our country. It was simply treason.
So while the country suffered attacks upon attacks by the criminal and beastly group Boko Haram, very high-ranking military and security officials, paid for and maintained by our resources, were on a diet of caviar and wine, feeding fat and growing pot belly while sending our troops to war with no weapons, limited weapons or defective weapons and equipment. This included even handing an Air Force pilot a defective aircraft for combat and this led to his death. Not only were our troops slaughtered, civilian population and whole towns and local government areas were taken over by criminals. Yet, our military top brasses were sitting pretty, enjoying their loot and lying to us.
It is clear that the criminal minds in the military and security agencies were not acting alone. They had their civilian cohorts inside and outside government as co-conspirators, if all the revelations are factual. Just imagine the number of deaths, mostly avoidable, our country has harvested in the last few years from the attacks of the insurgents while some people who should have acted stood by, sharing our patrimony and common wealth, meant to equip our military to defend us.
I can only wonder how the families of some of our military men would be feeling now, knowing that their loved ones may still be alive today, had those in authorities not been greedy. And the revelations of outright theft show that many in authority just didn’t give a damn about the rest of us. They were obviously feeding on the blood of innocent citizens including the now fallen soldiers. The least we can do as a people is to ensure the speedy trial and conclusion of these allegations as the best form of justice and closure on this chapter of our history.
Until we bring the criminals to justice, until we ensure that systems, laws and policies are in place to prevent recurrence, we would not have brought a closure to our wounded hearts. The usual expression at our remembrance events is ‘never again’. We can only give that pledge a meaning if we resolve all doubts and all crimes that have kept our troops and the entire citizens in harms’ way.
Re: For an integrated transport system. In my last week article on the need for integration in the transport sector, the impression was given that the rail service in Abuja is not designed to reach the city centre and the airport. I regret that what I wrote suggested so. There is in fact an inner city rail line still under construction but for now it is not linked to the present intercity rail service between Abuja and Kaduna, so the concerns I expressed about the planned six weeks diversion of Abuja flights to Kaduna are still real.
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