18-01-2017
Many Nigerians are simply very
funny.
An airforce jet was reported to
have dropped missles on civilians instead of Boko Haram fighters yesterday
morning. Preliminary reports suggest it was a mistake which is regrettable and
very unfortunate. Some very cerebral Nigerians in a bid to probably appear more
human have disagreed vehemently that a mistake couldn't have been possible and
such 'excuses' aren't sound enough. One particular individual even talked about
professionalism and ethics. A few others have either overtly or subtly
suggested that the government was responsible for sanctioning air attacks of
her own people.
I tried to explain the concept of
collateral damage, friendly fire and other unfortunate incidents which
characterize armed conflicts and wars but it appears some folks are impervious
to such issues or are perhaps just mischievous. I mentioned that such events
afflict the best militaries despite their advanced technologies and experience
but what I got back was "why are we comparing ourselves with other
countries" bla bla bla. I wonder at the number of times the US have reported
casualties from friendlies and grave errors from their many drone strikes. One
of such strikes took out over three score Syrian soldiers sometime in the
second half of 2016. Fighter jets on routine practice have been reported to
slam into residential areas in a few US states, I wonder if Americans imagine
such happened on the orders of the president.
Being overly emotional and
sentimental about casualty figures doesn't make one more human compared to
those who opt to focus on the prevailing realities. If there was anything to
hide, we'd never have heard about it or we would have heard after 4 months that
something of this nature happened. I'm certain the tragedy will be investigated
considering the variables involved and the different sources that errors could have
emanated from. This is not the time to throw the military under the bus and
conclude that the officers there are tools in the hands of government to crush
Nigerians who are already trying ever so hard to survive.
So we learnt Nigeria has deployed
NNS Unity to the coast of Gambia as part of an ECOWAS measure to defuse the
jester there and all some very brilliant Nigerians can see is wasted money and
a handicapped Nigeria that ought to lock herself up and desist from meddling in
the affairs of other nations.
It's amazing how much of
Nigeria's history is not known even by those privileged to get educated.
Angola, South Africa, Rhodesia, Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, etc are among
African nations Nigeria has spent money and hemoglobin on even if most of them
repay with ingratitude. What is the small matter of Gambia?
If these fellow Nigerians get the
reins of the nation in the nearest future, how exactly are they going to run
her affairs? With paranoia and nonchalance? Perhaps they have some secret
formulae lodged somewhere in their cauda equina.
May the souls of the departed
rest in peace and let the pressure on the government be to ensure the
relocation, rehabilitation and protection of all internally displaced people
across the country.
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