I read a lot of stories of many Israeli young men and women paying high flight tickets just to get back to Israel and join the fight against Hamas and anyone who may dare attack them. These Israelis are coming from the United States, Germany, the UK, and Sweden; all parts of the so-called “best countries”, with great economies and better security. But these young men and women are abandoning the comfort and security that these countries guarantee to return to their war-torn countries, just to help.
This can only happen because these people love their country. But contrary to what you might have been made to believe; the love of country, does not come automatically. For people to love their country unconditionally and be ready to sacrifice their personal comfort and even lives for the safety and glory of their country, they must have been convinced that the country indeed cares for them and would take care of their families if anything happens to them.
Even though Nigeria is not literally at war, if you open the airports today and ask people to leave without visas, more than 90% of Nigerians are sure to jump in and make a run for any opportunity out of the country. Many fake and real travel agencies are making a kill with promises of visas to countries and Nigerians are trooping out in their numbers. Many of these Nigerian immigrants to other countries would be ready to sacrifice anything in order to leave Nigeria.
I know a few people who were married here, well-educated and also bright in their own way, who abandoned everything they had here and jumped on the next available opportunity to travel abroad, got married to some imbeciles in order to get their papers, and denounced their family heritage because they are desperate to escape the rough times in Nigeria.
There are few Nigerians who would put their lives on the line for the sake of Nigeria and I doubt if we can find up to 10% of Nigerians who can stand up, willingly, to fight for Nigeria when another country or a terrorist group attacks us.
Recently, I had an interaction with a friend who is in the Army and he told me stomach-hurting tales of his close shaves with death and how he is looking for money to take care of himself over an injury he sustained while combating Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast.
He is a major in the Army but his salary is not up to 280k, that’s about 280 dollars per month. When I asked him why he is still in the job, he told me that he hasn’t any options and that he genuinely loves the job and loves Nigeria. This young man is Igbo and my mate in the university.
When I compare his story with that of a good friend of mine who was in the US military and what he told me about how he was recruited and how the special benefits he still receives as a veteran, I lose appetite for blaming people who openly tell you that “patriotism to Nigeria is silliness”.
You could actually wake up one day and decide that you want to join the military, you sign the necessary papers, they run their background checks on you and you go in for training. At the end of your training, you would be placed according to your capacity and given a good sum of money, to guarantee some level of comfort, outside your regular salary.
When you get married, your spouse would be placed on some stipend, if she is not working, and as much as possible, they try to ensure your reasonable comfort. Even when you are out of service, they try to make sure you don’t get yourself into a financially desperate situation, by providing you with some financial assistance to enable you stabilise.
In Nigeria, you may need to bribe your way before you can be recruited into any of the law enforcement agencies, and no one really cares about your welfare once you are in. Their salaries are nothing to write home about.
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A reason, for collecting “roger” from motorists and other forms of embarrassing corrupt practices seems to be an acceptable culture among the rank and file of the various armed forces. Nigeria must begin to take deliberate steps towards earning the confidence and faith of its citizens for the faith of citizens is any nation’s greatest assurance of its own security and sovereignty.
MAY NIGERIA PREVAIL!
- Script Credit: ONWUASOANYA FCC JONES
Disclaimer: “The views/contents expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of Onwuasoanya FCC Jones and do not necessarily reflect those of The World Satellite. The World Satellite will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.”
