A while back, a close friend of mine and
neighbor, decided to pursue his dream of
joining the Nigerian Army. Was it a cool
decision for his friends and family? Yes. Were
we expecting him to preserve a chunk of his
admirable gentle nature—which we all loved
him for, despite the rigors of military training?
I didn't see why not!

Anyway, he successfully scaled through
selection and began active service. He visited
home whenever he could, but everyone could
tell he obviously wasn't the same person. His
first strange behavior as a soldier, started
when he aggressively threatened to beat up an
elder sibling—whom he once revered, for
'crazily thinking' he was the same 'old civilian.'


On one of his visits, we had planned a
weekend getaway, so we joined a local bus
headed for our hangout location. While in the
bus, we chatted away, and had a few laughs
until he began narrating the torrid experiences
he had gone through as a recruit, and how
some of his friends didn't make it because they
either lost their lives or sustained severe
injuries.

Soon enough, it was time to pay our fare, and
of course, the rock-faced bus conductor didn't
dare request payment from my soldier-friend
who was partly kitted out in his uniform. I
stretched out to pay for mine, but was
immediately rebuked by my friend who
ordered the conductor not to collect any
money from me.

That seemed rather awkward, but the bus
conductor—who was far much older than we
were persisted, (after all, I was just a mere
civilian passenger who was privileged to sit
next to a soldier).

My soldier-friend didn't speak any further and
remained silent until the bus stopped. He
hastily jumped down, and seized the conductor
by his pants, while he pulled out the scary
looking belt attached to his uniform.
It was stunning how he tirelessly whipped the
bus conductor who kept screaming out in pain,
and only stopped the whipping when other
drivers at the park strongly pleaded with him
to forgive their poor colleague.

We slowly left the crowded scene in a walk of
shame (well at least, for me who couldn't bear
the eyes of bystanders staring at me in a weird
way). I couldn't help but wonder... What
engineered my soldier-friend's strange and
aggressive behavior?

Was he trying to protect me by denying
someone else of his rights and money? Or was
he more concerned about a mere 'civilian' bus
conductor who hurt his army ego by
demanding bus fare from his friend who was
sitting right next to him?

I pondered real hard and made a solid
resolution to confront him head-on. Well, I
really did try to break the awkward silence that
had ensued between us, but on a second
thought, I wouldn't hurriedly advice a man
who just mercilessly whipped a bus conductor
with a monster belt and was obviously still
fuming in rage. I wasn't prepared to be at the
receiving end of that belt just yet!
I never had a second chance to advice my
soldier-friend who later relocated, and we lost
contact. Now, I'm asking. Do our soldiers lose
a bit of their conscience and humanity at the
Academy?

Is there a radical or monstrous anti-civilian
ideology which makes it difficult for our
soldiers to perfectly fit into society? What does
the military do to these men?

https://www.naij.com/1121750-opinion-what-military-loved-by-nimi-princewill.html

Dey only pretend... dey are still human.. it's jst the orientation... ...

It is lack of proper orientation

2undexy:
A while back, a close friend of mine and
neighbor, decided to pursue his dream of
joining the Nigerian Army. Was it a cool
decision for his friends and family? Yes. Were
we expecting him to preserve a chunk of his
admirable gentle nature—which we all loved
him for, despite the rigors of military training?
I didn't see why not!

Anyway, he successfully scaled through
selection and began active service. He visited
home whenever he could, but everyone could
tell he obviously wasn't the same person. His
first strange behavior as a soldier, started
when he aggressively threatened to beat up an
elder sibling—whom he once revered, for
'crazily thinking' he was the same 'old civilian.'


On one of his visits, we had planned a
weekend getaway, so we joined a local bus
headed for our hangout location. While in the
bus, we chatted away, and had a few laughs
until he began narrating the torrid experiences
he had gone through as a recruit, and how
some of his friends didn't make it because they
either lost their lives or sustained severe
injuries.

Soon enough, it was time to pay our fare, and
of course, the rock-faced bus conductor didn't
dare request payment from my soldier-friend
who was partly kitted out in his uniform. I
stretched out to pay for mine, but was
immediately rebuked by my friend who
ordered the conductor not to collect any
money from me.

That seemed rather awkward, but the bus
conductor—who was far much older than we
were persisted, (after all, I was just a mere
civilian passenger who was privileged to sit
next to a soldier).

My soldier-friend didn't speak any further and
remained silent until the bus stopped. He
hastily jumped down, and seized the conductor
by his pants, while he pulled out the scary
looking belt attached to his uniform.
It was stunning how he tirelessly whipped the
bus conductor who kept screaming out in pain,
and only stopped the whipping when other
drivers at the park strongly pleaded with him
to forgive their poor colleague.

We slowly left the crowded scene in a walk of
shame (well at least, for me who couldn't bear
the eyes of bystanders staring at me in a weird
way). I couldn't help but wonder... What
engineered my soldier-friend's strange and
aggressive behavior?

Was he trying to protect me by denying
someone else of his rights and money? Or was
he more concerned about a mere 'civilian' bus
conductor who hurt his army ego by
demanding bus fare from his friend who was
sitting right next to him?

I pondered real hard and made a solid
resolution to confront him head-on. Well, I
really did try to break the awkward silence that
had ensued between us, but on a second
thought, I wouldn't hurriedly advice a man
who just mercilessly whipped a bus conductor
with a monster belt and was obviously still
fuming in rage. I wasn't prepared to be at the
receiving end of that belt just yet!
I never had a second chance to advice my
soldier-friend who later relocated, and we lost
contact. Now, I'm asking. Do our soldiers lose
a bit of their conscience and humanity at the
Academy?

Is there a radical or monstrous anti-civilian
ideology which makes it difficult for our
soldiers to perfectly fit into society? What does
the military do to these men?

https://www.naij.com/1121750-opinion-what-military-loved-by-nimi-princewill.html

I think it's the pride of becoming soldier that takes over them, I don't think the countriy's constitution allows a military personnel to board a commercial bus without paying just because they are soldiers, I wonder what they expect the special forces who are more rigorously trained to do when they behave like animals.

i did not read through, buh soldiers go through a lot during training, they wake up by 4am, jog to long distance and all sort of hard stuff.. but its not enough reason to loose humanity, they are only been proud and allowing power get a better part of them..

Is the training more rigorous than that of other countries with far more advanced military forces? USA, Russia, China, or even the UK? Why doesn't this affect the humanity of these other countries' soldiers?