By Bisi Lawrence
Among the names that came out of the Nigerian Civil War is one that streaked out as the fiercest, or the finest—depending on your perception of military discipline. Some even described him as brutal. I perceive him as purely professional. The name is Achuziah.

He came into the Civil War from Britain where he was serving as an officer.That was where he had all the military training he knew, and he could only function with the concept of bravery, honour and discipline as it was there instilled in him. He had not lived for a long time before the war in the Eastern part of Nigeria of which he was an extraction, but had been thrilled by the call he felt in his heart to play a part, a worthwhile part, in the realization of a state called Biafra as promulgated by his kinsmen.

The motivation was shorn of “politics”. Achuzia was a warrior consumed by the passion for what he believed was for the progress of his people. He was an unadulterated nationalist. Only the official surrender at the end of the war could have made him stop. Otherwise he was poised to continue all alone. His nickname among his friends and foes was Hannibal.

I met him after the war, that is, when he told me about some of his exploits.

Some of them sounded unpleasant even as he narrated them with his little grin horror filtered through a crooked smile. One episode I remember was the incident at the start of the ill-fated attempt to re-capture Port Harcourt. Desperate in command, he gave the order to advance at one point where many of his soldiers hesitated to obey. About four of the men did more than that; they boldly—foolishy—refused to obey.

Achuzia, still keeping his little smile said,”I shot them on the spot.”

Though I was slightly shocked at the simple and straightforward manner in which he conducted the narration, I could understand that it was in the best traditions of the military culture which glorify total obedience to orders. As the English poet, Alfred Tennyson, holds forth in “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, with soldiers “their’s not to make reply; their’s not to reason why; their’s but to do and die.

Alex Badeh

“ That poem was written 140 years ago about the exploit of a British Light Calvary Brigade, but the principle is universal and eternal. You don’t disobey a military order; that is insubordination. You don’t run away in the face of the enemy; that is cowardice. You don’t shoot at your commander; that is mutiny. If you are in the army, yours is “but to do and die. “It is well-known and accepted as a sterling code of ethics.

That underpins Achuzia’s ferocious action in the Port Harcourt saga, though it may not be attractive to many a militia high command. The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh, briefly hinted on it while explaining why some soldiers had been court-martialled recently.

The alternative, to which he rhetorically alluded, could have been to give the accused soldiers some kind of short shrift and bury their bodies in the jungle. However, he evidently rejected the very thought of such a proposition by the way he put it, though it was erroneously reported in some quarters as if he had actually suggested it. The military, to the mind of the Chief of Defence Staff, followed the proper course.

The incidence of alleged inappropriate behaviour in the Nigerian Army in recent times tends to sully a record that has been almost immaculate. These indictments, involving even a few senior officers in some cases, appear linked with the Boko Haram phenomenon.

The accused soldiers seemed to have reacted to conditions they considered unfavourable in their service, either at the war front or elsewhere, against the background of the Boko Haram confrontation. But then, theirs is not to “consider”. As men in uniform, they must accept that they are no longer in line for that privilege. Theirs is “but to do and die.”

It is not for the public to disagree or criticise either, though comments are free as guaranteed by the Constitution. If there is a situation that this nation has to do without right now, it is a state of disagreement and rancour between the populace and the military. Those who are ready to confront the military over the death sentence of those who were recently court-marshalled should allow that fact to influence their thoughts and declarations.

On the other hand, commendable as the eagerness to justice by the military authorities may be, that fact also ought to be an important factor in the extent of their actions. A rash of indiscipline in the army does credit little to the maintenance of good order within the military, and definitely removes from its prestige if is not exposed with caution by the military itself. The offending personnel indeed need not to have been quietly and summarily dealt with secretly in the forest, but their fate may not be celebrated like a victory either.

We need not create distractions for our own consumption. The enemy is Boko Haram.

child marriage threat 

We have been counting days which have now snowballed into weeks. Very soon, we may be counting years since over two hundred Nigerian girls were abducted from their school dormitory in Chibok. And then, all would be lost.

Those who strive on in the hope that these unfortunate girls may yet be rescued are to be congratulated. They strive on against what appears to be a blank wall of officialdom. Yet, they strive on, daring to hope against hopelessness, and flaunting courage In the teeth of discouragement. For what really is there to hope for?

From the corridors of great powers, the campaign has been launched. ‘Within the circle of eminent personalities, the issue has been given the floor on several occasions.

The hearts of many parents have been broken like the shattered dreams they had cherished for their children. Soldiers have died and priests have prayed. But we do not appear to be nearer the solution than when the problem reared its bearded head.

We keep killing the same enemy whose profane arrogance frustrates the landscape.He seems to regard no one,not even the God in whose dishonour he lies against.

Our president, who flies all over the place like a sheet of paper caught in the wind, has now himself become too busy to speak, just to speak, with those who are now left in despair after their fruitless journey in quest of someone in his position to publicly share their passion for the return of the abducted girls.

The Boko Haram leader, who keeps getting serially killed (this page refuses to be soiled by the mention of his name) has threatened to marry off, or sell into slavery, these children whose absence puts us in a dilemma. It is calculated that it would be foolhardy to frontally attack him and his host of murderers, for they may have no qualms in taking the lives of the girls. But, at the same time, we simply cannot continue to appear to sit on our hands, ignoring the desire, and indeed the duty, to bring back our girls.

But there are people who doubt that there is much left to be achieved now.Dare we face the prospect, as a matter of fact, that we may not eventually  fully recover these maidens left in the absolute power of the Boko Haram monsters? It may not fill our hearts with happiness but dismay, that many of them would have been sold into slavery, while others may have been married off.

In the culture of a people who fervently practise childmarriage, it would present no questions of propriety or conscience, to give several of those girls out as unwilling brides. Each of them constitutes an expense item in the situation they now find themselves. They have to eat and their upkeep has to be met somehow. This cannot happen indefinitely even with the goodwill of benefactors—which the Boko Haram definitely is not.

Fears for the well-being of these children are really not unfounded in this regard because their captors seem to have acquired a model in the ISIL way of death. That Middle East scourge have demonstrated their low respect for human life by beheading their captives and casually forcing the women into marital bondage. Boko Haram, like a copy cat, then started decapitating their captives.

They would need no lesson in sending those girls into the horrors of forced child marriage. President Goodluck Jonathan should not hide his face from those who need him for re-assurance, even if that is little more than he can offer. God help us.

Time out.