NIGERIA’S MILITARY ARE A PROBLEM TO NOLLYWOOD

As a child, I was a member of the Scout Association of Nigeria. We had a lot of contact with officers of the Nigerian Armed Forces, particularly the Nigerian Army (NA) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF). On several occasions, we invited some of them to train and instruct us, academically or physically.

Like many other children, I had the dream of joining the Nigerian Armed Forces, amongst other things. That changed when I was 10. I followed my mother to her sister’s place, and on our way back, we saw members of the Nigerian Army flogging and kicking a civilian for the crime of wearing faded camouflage shorts.

The guy had bleached his skin, so the marks from their horsewhip and boots quickly destroyed his skin. It was an eyesore to look at. These soldiers, 5 of them, beat him black and blue, as if he was single-handedly responsible for global warming or if he was wanted for stealing 80 billion naira from the Kogi State coffers.

For more than 30 minutes, they beat him, asked him to roll inside smelly gutters, beat him again, frog-jumped him and then beat him some more. The Odionwere of our street, who moved as fast as a tortoise because of age, had to crawl out from his house and threatened to join the guy inside the gutter.

They left him, but not after stripping off his shorts and shirts. I swore that day that I’d never join the army. The actions of those officers confirmed the reputation they have, of mindless violence on innocent citizens.

As for the police, their history of violence, corruption and abuse of power has long disgusted ordinary Nigerians. They once molested and arrested me in 2015 for breaking an environmental sanitation curfew. In reality, they knew I was wearing work clothes and was, in fact, actively clearing the gutters when they arrested me.

They also knew I was walking to buy pure water for myself and for others who were cleaning the streets, but they needed to intimidate me into giving them money. Thankfully it failed.

In developed nations of the world, the military even sells their used kits to citizens to raise funds; why is the Nigerian Armed Forces different? Is the Nigerian Army a secret cult, and are their operatives a group of semi-literate dolts who are going around looking for people to maim for supposedly flying their colours?

To the best of my knowledge, the Nigerian Army wears a camouflage that is designed after the states and capital of the federation, so why is its metaphorical phallus aroused whenever they see a civilian wearing “camo” of any kind? They often cite that people impersonate while wearing them, or that bandits and terrorists use them. I think this is pure deceit. We know where bandits and terrorists are, and we think the Nigerian Army are either too corrupt, underfunded or ill-trained to tackle them.

As for the police, their reason is even more discombobulating. They claim that filmmakers are portraying them the wrong way. Hence, filmmakers must get approval before producing anything bearing their semblance. This is laughable.

The Nigerian Police Force is famed for being one of the most corrupt organizations in the world. The stench of the rottenness within the force can rival that of a mortuary managed by inept buffoons, yet they are trying to give the dog a bad name.

Are filmmakers the ones asking officers to attack, shoot, maim and rape vulnerable citizens? These complaints and allegations are common knowledge, and the police must try to fix its reputation by punishing the bad eggs amongst its ranks. That is infinitely better than trying to bully filmmakers who are storytellers.

It will not work.