NIGERIA AND WELFARE OF SOLDIERS

It was in 2009 that Boko Haram emerged as a formidable threat. Turning the Northeast upside down from Borno State, the group soon spread its tentacles to the Northwest and the rest of the country.

More decisive and deadly factions soon emerged within the group to plunge Nigeria into war ever since – a war security agencies are poorly equipped to handle. The police are poorly equipped and funded. The Armed Forces are slightly better. But in a letter to President Tinubu, a Nigerian soldier has spoken about a war within a war. According to him, soldiers are paid N50,000 monthly which is unable to purchase one bag of rice. Is Nigeria now sending its soldiers into battle with their bare hands? This has come up before.

Since the war started, the welfare of those who prosecute the war has come up again and again. They are said to be poorly paid and motivated. Worse still, corruption has been identified as militating against improving their welfare. But can Nigerians afford to have distracted soldiers on the battlefield? If those who do so little for the country are paid outrageous sums as salaries, how can  those who risk their lives for Nigeria be paid pittances?

Nigeria owes them big time. It is a scandal that they cannot pay their children’s school fees or meet basic needs at home.

Yet they risk their lives. They even have to buy their uniforms and Nigeria does nothing about it. The soldier feels that poor remuneration is the reason some of his colleagues take to crime. Can Nigerians afford to have their defenders turn against them?

Injustice continues to venture into dangerous territory in Nigeria. In making victims out of people who are sacrificing everything for the country, it is giving Nigerians many powerful enemies.

Nigerian legislators earn outrageous sums of money. There is no accounting for what members of the executive earn. The members of the judiciary take peanuts home. But it is still significant when put side by side with what every day Nigerians live on. Shortchanged and surcharged, soldiers live on next to nothing. As do many other Nigerian workers.

It is telling that the country struggles to pay the minimum wage. It is particularly striking that despite rampaging inflation, wages have remained fixed. It calls into question the foundation on which the Nigerian society is built. Resource-rich, the country of over 200 million people stands out for the poverty of its people.

The plight of the soldiers Is heartbreaking. That Nigeria has the cheeks to bloody the nose of those who defend it. According to the soldier, Nigerian soldiers should be allowed to engage in side hustles to be able to provide for their families. Nigeria cannot afford that. The last thing a country at war against terror needs is distraction for its troops.

The terrorists rampaging through Nigeria’s rural areas, and increasingly drawing close to its center have shown that they are not only sophisticated but ruthless. The body count from the war proves it. Nigeria requires soldiers who are focused on the war; soldiers who give everything for the cause.

However, from the inception of the fight against terrorism, there have been complaints: that corruption within the army was militating against Nigeria’s most decisive battle. This is not entirely strange in a country riddled with corruption. Accusations of corruption have not been limited to the public officers – sleaze has trailed the top brass of the armed forces too. It remains a question of justice, transparency, and patriotism. Those in the firing line of Nigeria’s war on terror deserve fair remuneration commensurate with the risks they take for the country. 

Ike Willie-Nwobu,

Ikewilly9@gmail.com