Nigerians may have stewed in poverty for years, suffering the deprivations of an extravagantly gifted country with exemplary equanimity. Yet, nothing has rattled Nigerians like the insidious insecurity that is now invading every aspect of their lives.
While the Nigerian government has maintained that steady progress is being made against the forces of insecurity in the country, the cracks, which first appeared in 2009, have turned into catastrophic craters that are now threatening to swallow an entire country.
For social media commentator Mark Chidiebere Justice, also known as “Justice Crack”, being shunted and shuffled between the Nigerian army and the Department of State Services may yet hold lessons for an entire country. His crime was to amplify the horrors of some soldiers at the forefront of the fight against Boko Haram in Borno State. The subject of their angst? Food rations. The images show food unfit for even Nigeria’s notoriously underfed prisoners.
While he was abducted and held captive, the uproar on social media, his first constituency, grew, forcing the Nigerian army to issue a terse statement saying he was detained and investigated for subversion. Eventually, he was handed over to the DSS, which subsequently arraigned him at the Federal High Court.
Nigeria is currently involved in a ferocious war against terrorism. While it is understandable that the Nigerian army must make difficult decisions, for how long does an institution that continues to steadily lose face with Nigerians think it can keep up with more negative publicity?
Furthermore, since it is universally acknowledged that there is no smoke without fire, what is the state of the welfare of Nigerian troops battling terrorists in the North? Accusations have long persisted that while the fat cats of the Nigerian military feast in Abuja, brave young Nigerian troops battling deadly insurgents are forced to get by on scraps.
There is another twist to a story that demands a scalpel rather than the bludgeon the Nigerian army now wields. While repentant terrorists are treated with trepidation, citizens who dare to speak up are rounded up and treated like criminals.
Nigerians acknowledge the sacrifices of many young soldiers in the war against terrorism. Yet, there remains only a thin line between history and memory. In its haste to control narratives in the war against terror, the Nigerian army must not trigger Nigerian memories of the Lekki Toll Gate massacre.
While the Nigerian army allows itself the morbid distraction of policing social media and picking up imaginary defaulters, the war against terrorism falters by the day, derailed by corruption and a catastrophic lack of focus.
Indeed, the alarms have become too shrill to be ignored. It is not the first time concerns have been raised about the welfare of Nigerian soldiers fighting terrorists in the Northeast. The issue has become such that the Nigerian army needs to conclusively address it because brute force will simply not work here.
It is unconscionable that horrid allegations should surface about the poor welfare of personnel who are braving scorching desert heat and devastating gunfire to repel Nigeria’s ruthless enemies.
So, beyond arresting activists who do nothing but exercise their right to free speech, the Nigerian army can and should do more to arrest the poor welfare of its personnel fighting terrorists in the North.
The Imperative to do this must not be lost on the Nigerian army. It may have to do with its personnel, but there is nothing personal about it. Nigerians have the highest stakes in the war against terrorism, and the least they can do is invest in the prosecution of the war, especially in the welfare of those who prosecute it. This must not be taken away from them.
Kene Obiezu is a lawyer, writer, and social commentator. He can be reached via keneobiezu@gmail.com.
