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Last Updated: Aug 30, 2017 - 10:46:09 AM |
A while back, a close friend of mine and neighbor,
decided to pursue his dream of joining the Nigerian Army. Was it a cool
decision for his friends and family? Yes.
Were we expecting him to
preserve a chunk of his admirable gentle nature—which we all loved him
for, despite the rigors of military training? I didn't see why not!
Anyway, he successfully scaled through selection and began active
service. He visited home whenever he could, but everyone could tell he
obviously wasn't the same person. His first strange behavior as a
soldier, started when he aggressively threatened to beat up an elder
sibling—whom he once revered, for 'crazily thinking' he was the same
'old submissive civilian.'
On one of his visits, we had planned a weekend getaway, so we joined a
local bus headed for our hangout location. While in the bus, we chatted
away, and had a few laughs until he began narrating the torrid
experiences he had gone through as a recruit, and how some of his
friends didn't make it because they either lost their lives or sustained
severe injuries. Soon enough, it was time to pay our fare, and of
course, the rock-faced bus conductor didn't dare request payment from my
soldier-friend who was partly kitted out in his uniform. I stretched
out to pay for mine, but was immediately rebuked by my friend who
ordered the conductor not to collect any money from me. That seemed
rather awkward, but the bus conductor—who was far much older than we
were persisted, (after all, I was just a mere civilian passenger who was
privileged to sit next to a soldier). My soldier-friend didn't speak
any further and remained silent until the bus stopped. He hastily jumped
down, and seized the conductor by his pants, while he pulled out the
scary looking belt attached to his uniform. It was stunning how he
tirelessly whipped the bus conductor who kept screaming out in pain, and
only stopped the whipping when other drivers at the park strongly
pleaded with him to forgive their poor colleague.
We slowly left the
crowded scene in a walk of shame (well at least, for me who couldn't
bear the eyes of bystanders staring at me in a weird way). I couldn't
help but wonder... What engineered my soldier-friend's strange and
aggressive behavior? Was he trying to protect me by denying someone else
of his rights and money? Or was he more concerned about a mere
'civilian' bus conductor who hurt his army ego by demanding bus fare
from his friend who was sitting right next to him? I pondered real hard
and made a solid resolution to confront him head-on.
Well, I really did
try to break the awkward silence that had ensued between us, but on a
second thought, I wouldn't hurriedly advice a man who just mercilessly
whipped a bus conductor with a monster belt and was obviously still
fuming in rage. I wasn't prepared to be at the receiving end of that
belt just yet!
I never had a second chance to advice my soldier-friend who later
relocated, and we lost contact. Now, I'm asking. Do our soldiers lose a
bit of their conscience and humanity at the Academy? Is there a radical
or monstrous anti-civilian ideology which makes it difficult for our
soldiers to perfectly fit into society? What does the military do to
these men?
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