The military is one of the most important institutions in a democracy — a great and honourable profession. In our day and age, not all countries possess military establishments. Examples include Liechtenstein, Andorra, Dominica, Grenada, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Soviet strongman Joseph Stalin once dismissively asked, “How many divisions does the Pope have?” Of course, the Vatican has none. And I doubt if it needs any.
The theme of this Workshop is, “Civil-Military Relations and the Media”. We can best conceive of civil-military relations in the language of analytic geometry. Imagine 3 Venn diagrams with two intersecting circles, representing the military and civic communities. In the first box the circles intersect by 10 percent, in the second by 40 percent and in the third by 80 percent. The first represents the classic model of civil-military relations in liberal democratic systems; the second in relatively militarised jurisdictions and the third in highly militarised countries.
I humbly confess that I have studied military strategy from Sun-Tzu to Rommel and Zhukov. The doctrine of military subordination to constitutional authority is one of the foundational axioms of military science in socialist and democratic regimes. It is often said that war is far too important to be left to the generals. Carl von Clausewitz famously declared that “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” Effective war-making requires the military to be subordinated to political policy. Otherwise they can run amok, as General Macarthur infamously did in 1950s North Korea.
In the United States, where the right to bear arms is enshrined in the statutes, the interface between soldiers and civilians is a matter of constitutional principle. In an age defined by historian Arthur Schlesinger as the “the imperial presidency”, the America has become a warrior state, often fighting simultaneous wars. Succeeding American leaders have decried what they term “the military-industrial complex”. Whatever the challenges, it is also true that the military has been an instrument of nation building, mass mobilisation and technology development in America. Few people know, for example, that the Internet began as a communication tool within the US military before its astonishing worldwide expansion.
In semi-militarised countries such as Egypt and Pakistan, the military are even more deeply embedded in civil society. Although they are supposedly democratic countries, the military in both countries exercise great influence on national policy. In Egypt they dominate most public works and infrastructure projects. In Pakistan they reserve veto powers on key domestic and foreign policy decisions. In times of crisis, they are the last bastion of national honour.
Examples of fully militarised countries include Israel, Cuba and North Korea. Israel is a small country that has suffered recurrent invasions from its Arab neighbours since independence in 1948. The Jewish state has a universal system of conscription for men and women from age eighteen. They also have a large reserve army. Success as a warlord is often a factor in political leadership recruitment, as exemplified by Prime Ministers such as Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel has a prominent international brand as “the start-up nation”. Barring the United States, it has more technology companies on the New York Stock Exchange than any other country. Many of these successful companies were created by former soldiers who forged bonds with one another on the battlefields. Israel is a successful warrior state that has blended its civil and military traditions in a manner that projects national power as well as economic and technological prowess.
When I was a primary school child in 1968, General Mohammed Shuwa stopped his military Land Rover near our home one hot afternoon to play football with my late brother, our friends and I. He was on his way back to the war front. He was our hero — gallant and charismatic. That encounter has left an indelible imprint in my memory.
I began my career at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru. Then as now, a sizable portion of the staff and participants were drawn from the higher officer corps. It was for me a great learning experience. I got to know that some of the most brilliant minds we have in this country are in our armed forces. As fate would have it, during the years 1982-83, the GOC 3 Division in nearby Rukuba Barracks used to come and play sports with us. A tall bespectacled officer and gentleman. He had an aura of supreme command. We were not altogether surprised when Muhammadu Buhari later emerged as Head of State on 31 December 1983.
We all know the history of military intervention and its consequences. The Nigerian military that we have today was an organic offshoot of the British West African Frontier Force (WAFF). Its residual temperament as a colonial expedition army unfortunately seems to persist. Old habits, apparently, die hard! We all remember the Odi massacre in 1999, when the military invaded some Bayelsa communities, killing 2,500 defenceless civilians in the pretext of avenging the deaths of some of their own men. Many would also recall the “reprisal killings” by soldiers in Zaki-Biam, Benue State in October 2001. An estimated 200 defenceless civilians were killed during that occasion. There is also the massacre of 800 Shia Muslims in Zaria in December 2015.
The relationship between civil communities and the military remains an uneasy one. It is not helped by a situation where soldiers have been brought out to man countless checkpoints on our highways. I have personally witnessed the shameful and dishonourable spectacle of soldiers extorting handouts from motorists on our highways. Who could have ever imagined that the once great Nigerian army would be reduced to such opprobrious, disgraceful mendicancy?
In our Nigeria of today there is no love lost between civilians and soldiers. It is particularly worse in the war-torn North East. The insurgents have often found it expedient to meld with the local populace, who on their part, have often informed the insurgents about the movements of our soldiers. The insurgents have also thought nothing of using civilians — including children and women — as human shields. It has provoked our soldiers into committing all forms of atrocities against the civilian population. As a consequence, the prospects of defeating Boko Haram seem bleaker than ever before.
One of the current controversies centres on the use of the military in elections. The government insists that such deployments are necessary to prevent electoral crimes and the attendant political violence. Opposition parties believe, on the contrary, that it leads to a lot of abuse, giving the incumbent undue political advantage. Whatever one’s position, it is self-evident that the use of the military in democratic elections is patently an aberration.
The Nigerian military of today, I’m afraid, is not what it used to be. They have become fat and lethargic, with no sense of patriotism. The high command are bereft of both strategy and doctrine. Young men are being sent to die in the battlefields with 1970s Czech armoured tanks. Rather than face the enemy with inferior weapons and almost certain death, they throw away their uniforms and flee into the primeval savannah. There have been mutinies and desertions. Morale is abjectly low. Promotions are allegedly effected on the basis of nepotism rather than merit. There have been summary retirements without reference to due process. Fear, suspicion, bitterness, rot and decay define the order of things.
The role of the military in a democracy is to defend the people, uphold the constitution and secure our territorial integrity. The military function best when they act as servants of the people rather than the bloodthirsty Leviathan that it is. We need a reformed military that is not only battle-ready but also imbued with patriotism and awareness of its constitutional mandate and vocation; a military anchored on excellence, merit and patriotism.
We also must inculcate in civic communities respect for the military and support for what they have to do, often under strenuous circumstances. We must also adequately fund and retool them as technological forces that can swiftly respond to the imperatives of 21st century defence and security. But they must also be accountable. To whom much is given, much is expected.
- Being remarks at the Workshop on “Civil-Military Relations and the Media”, Organised by the Federal Ministry of Defence, Held at One Division Officers’ Mess, Kaduna, 21-22 March, 2019.
Obadiah Mailafia
