William Shakespeare famously itemised the three routes to greatness in Twelfth Night. He said that some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. More than prominence is playing out in the matter of the Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Yusuf Buratai. The apotheosis of Buratai is proceeding at jet speed before our eyes.
The dictionary provides two senses for the word apotheosis. One is “the highest point in the development of something; a climax.” The other refers to “the elevation of someone to divine status”. It is unclear which sense of the word General Burutai and his team prefer, but they are walking the path to apotheosis.
The careful observer would have noticed the hagiographic articles that speak with the solidity of wind all extolling the wonders of Buratai. One example in the Vanguard recently would suffice. ”Buratai and the birth of a new Army”. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/03/buratai-and-the-birth-of-a-new-army/
Written by one Udeike, the article claims, contrary to the evidence of our eyes and the report of all authorities, that the Army did a wonderful job during the elections. The piece utters absolute falsehoods with no shame. The writer claims, “I stand to be corrected that we today live in peace even after a major election is indeed a testament of the invaluable role the Nigerian Army played in ensuring that the polls were indeed credible, free and fair. For example, in states like Rivers and Zamfara, the Nigerian Army were even victims. They were loathed by the government of these states and made life unbearable for officers and soldiers on election duty. But in all of these, it didn’t stop them from carrying out their duties in a most professional manner and concerning human rights. This is the new Nigerian Army under Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai.”
The construction of an alternate reality and alternate universe of a giant conquering military strategist called Tukur Yusuf Buratai took a more insidious dimension with the involvement of two universities. Vice Chancellor of Ebonyi State University Prof Chigozie Egbu led a team from the institution to the Abuja office of Buratai to announce the naming of a newly established Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies after the Chief of Army Staff. Egbu claimed that the Lt.-Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies would “offer members of the Armed Forces, Police and paramilitary agencies the opportunity to get higher and relevant education.”
A statement by Army spokesman Col Musa Sagir affirmed that Igbinedion University, Okada, also had on April 15 honoured the Nigerian army by naming its Centre for Contemporary Security Affairs after Gen. Buratai. Vice Chancellor Prof Lawrence Ezemonye said Igbinedion University acted on a January 2017 proposal for the centre. The Tukur Yusuf Buratai Centre for Contemporary Security Affairs would “interrogate emerging security challenges of local and global concerns.”
The big one would happen on May 4 when Lt Gen Buratai takes his self-lionising mission to primary schools with the launch of a children’s storybook. Dr Abubakar Mohd Sani is the nameplate author of The Legend of Buratai described by the Army as “about the exploits of the Nigerian Army over insurgency and insurrections in Nigeria under the leadership of Gen. Buratai in a fictional style narrative of children’s literature”.
Buratai is nurturing under his command of the Nigerian Army a cult of personality and hero worship that ascribes to the head of an institution attributes that belong to the collective. A troubling question is: to what end is this elevation of Buratai? What does Buratai worship represent? Here is a general under whose watch Nigeria has become a security nightmare.
Buratai’s Commander-in-Chief delivered a verdict on the performance of the Army in his Easter message on April 19. President Buhari does not see any reason to celebrate the security situation, the claim to fame of Buratai’s Army. The President lamented: “Our nation is currently gripped with gloom over unfortunate killings, kidnappings and violence, as seen in the recent tragic incidents in some states of the federation.This administration will do all it takes to adequately equip and motivate our armed forces and other law enforcement agencies to enable them successfully confront these security challenges. We will not allow merchants of evil and death to overwhelm the nation. Under my watch, the nation will triumph over them – terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and the like.”
What is Buratai’s claim to fame? Or what is this script of adulation? The Army claims it is for the extraordinary feat of defeating Boko Haram and ensuring peace in the land. Please do not laugh! Is the commander in chief aware of the evolving cult of worship of his Chief of Army Staff? As a public officer, does the naming of study centres and such other honorifics and gifts not offend the prescription of section 6 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers? What is the end goal of these moves by a man hailed as a strategist? To what end?
Chido Nwakanma
