The Old general, the Big brothers and the Kankara boys
By: Adekunle Ogunleke
Tags: Insecurity, Politics, Nigerian Politics, Peace, Terrorism

When legions carry weapons (2018) by Ken Nwadiogbu

Disclaimer: This is a product of PTSD.

If you ever wondered at the disclaimer, most Nigerians suffer PSTD mildly. I should start with the characterization of the old general. The old general is the successor after the era of the Otuoke man. All Nigerians were blindfolded in the illusion of the messianic portrait of him when he submitted his resume. The Katsinan thought he was their brother like Cain caned Abel to death or until their brother was no longer their brother. They thumbed him in to guard them “Of course, he has a pregnant resume of experience.” They thought. Reality might just have shown they saw fibroid. Nigerians were bitten twice and never got a chance to shy. The old general spends the holiday with his people and the kidnappers came to cart away the Kankara boys. They had their good time. The bandits were the assessor of the old general and on many occasions, they have ticked the wrong symbol on his score sheet. His brothers asked him to talk to them but as usual, silence is golden. He plays the mime.

Since a mime is left for the audience’s interpretation of gestures and body movements, for the old general’s mime stems series of theories to explain the graph course of the nation. Some theorists rumored he is Jacob from Sudan who has come for Isaac’s blessing on Esau’s proxy. Others suggest he is the great thespian from Niger. Whichever is the truth, the people request that he wears the costume of empathy just as the romantic poet; Percy Shelley posited that imagination is a tool of morality. But, he could not imitate the Good Samaritan. The nation remains on autopilot as the big brothers cut their shares.

The big brothers watch over us from Aso rock. They sold Nigeria out to the highest bidders. They sold the old general to Nigerians as the truth. Even as reality dawns, they rebrand him to make him closer to reality. Today, Most Nigerians are refugees living on Nigerian soil. There is nowhere to run nor is there anywhere to hide. Big brothers are really watching you. Hunger is watching you. Bandits and kidnappers are waiting everywhere to collect their taxes. When the old general hears of it, he smiles and moves on.

The foot soldiers under the old general’s command compare Nigeria’s tragic flaws to those of saner climes. They analyze how the old general could not have succeeded where the leaders at the supposed saner climes have failed. They did not expect the old general to succeed where they succeed at the saner climes either. Sometimes, if the old general fails, it is the fault of the citizens or the youths. If you criticize the old general, you are disrespectful or you ask to create enabling environment for businesses and education to thrive, you are just a lazy Nigerian youth. The foot soldiers either shift goalposts with figure reduction, logic, semantics or pragmatism. In essence, in the old general’s archery, before his hamartia leaks to the public domain, the foot soldiers quickly repaint the mark around his arrows such that, the arrow is stuck in the nucleus. Voila! He wins; he is the best archer that could defend the Kankara boys.

Nigerians are the most tolerant people on earth. They can endure and adjust to any situation. If they were fishes, they would survive on land. Food price inflation had caused revolutions in different cultures of the world but it might not happen in Nigeria. Instead, a Nigerian will pray to the divine to always provide so that he can afford to manage and purchase it. A Nigerian has no elastic limit to his adaptive stimuli and no adrenaline either.