We have inherited a situation where many barracks and military installationa are right in the middle of civilians populations in Nigeria.

We can see from the war in Ukraine that these can be called legitimate military targets and when attacked they can cause heavy civilian casualties

Quite apart from that is the fact that many soldiers find it hard to adapt to the rules of civil society and civilian rules

We see them driving against traffic sometimes causing accidents and loss of life
Sometimes they refuse to pay for transport and have attacked civilian owners of vehicles who dared ask for payments
There are countless reports of attacks on Police stations, police officers , LASTMA officials and so on
Sometimes when they have social disputes or civil disputes with civilians they resort to violence e.g. we have seen soldiers attack hospital staff if their sick relative dies under their care. The list of scenarios is endless.
My solution : We should review the need for Soldiers and other military to live in towns and cities among civilians.
They should be confined to the border areas and forests .
They should be required to have training and pass exams before being allowed to live with normal human beings

It's a no no.

Apart from the fact that most police officers have become accustomed to corruption, part of the reasons the police don't have the morale to do their job strictly is the fact that they live among the criminals they're fighting so suggesting same for soldiers is like adding salt to a wound.
There's nothing an average police officer fears like telling him you know him very well especially where he lives when he is trying to intimidate you.
Suggesting they should live among civilians is for them to be doomed by fighting their own immediate environment which will be certainly made of criminals mainly.
If soldiers and other uniform men are being attacked the way they are being attacked from last year till now, imagine what would be the case if their families lived among civilians in an open society.
Headlines of how soldiers and their families were set ablaze at night in their home would be occupying more space on the Internet.

You should rather be calling for more social disciplines to be inculcated into the military and better strategies to checkmate and punish defaulters.

respect80:
It's a no no

Yes. Otherwise they will loose all the sense of humanity in them.

respect80:
It's a no no.

Apart from the fact that most police officers have become accustomed to corruption, part of the reasons the police don't have the morale to do their job strictly is the fact that they live among the criminals they're fighting so suggesting same for soldiers is like adding salt to a wound.
There's nothing an average police officer fears like telling him you know him very well especially where he lives when he is trying to intimidate you.
Suggesting they should live among civilians is for them to be doomed by fighting their own immediate environment which will be certainly made of criminals mainly.
If soldiers and other uniform men are being attacked the way they are being attacked from last year till now, imagine what would be the case if their families lived among civilians in an open society.
Headlines of how soldiers and their families were set ablaze at night in their home would be occupying more space on the Internet.

You should rather be calling for more social disciplines to be inculcated into the military and better strategies to checkmate and punish defaulters.

But Nigerian soldiers and their families do live among civilians . Maybe you misunderstood what I am calling for.

The fact is that not all soldiers live in barracks many live in Face me I face you compounds and travel to work wearing uniforms in public transport. I know soldiers living in the ghetto that are even dealers of cannabis
What I am calling for is that that should stop but also even their barracks should not be in the middle of civilian populations. Soldiers should be kept away from civilians unless they can abide by civilian rules

aribisala0:


But Nigerian soldiers and their families do live among civilians . Maybe you misunderstood what I am calling for.

The fact is that not all soldiers live in barracks many live in Face me I face you compounds and travel to work wearing uniforms in public transport. I know soldiers living in the ghetto that are even dealers of cannabis
What I am calling for is that that should stop but also even their barracks should not be in the middle of civilian populations. Soldiers should be kept away from civilians unless they can abide by civilian rules

My solution : We should review the need for Soldiers and other military to live in towns and cities among civilians.
They should be confined to the border areas and forests .
They should be required to have training and pass exams before being allowed to live with normal human beings

Yes, I probably misunderstood you from the way you put it especially the bolded.

BTW, I'm aware that a minor population of soldiers are presently living among civilians due to inadequacies but the normal thing is for them to strictly live in barracks, not even for them to undergo any form of training or exam to be allowed to live among civilians.
You can't effectively fighting the immediate environment you live in and survive while sharing that environment with the same criminals you should be fighting

respect80:



Yes, I probably misunderstood you from the way you put it especially the bolded.

BTW, I'm aware that a minor population of soldiers are presently living among civilians due to inadequacies but the normal thing is for them to strictly live in barracks, not even for them to undergo any form of training or exam to be allowed to live among civilians.
You can't effectively fighting the immediate environment you live in and survive while sharing that environment with the same criminals you should be fighting

Maybe I am not communicating clearly enough

Soldiers should not be fighting criminals or participate in civilian law enforcement. That is not their orientation or training
Anything that leads to a situation where soldiers are telling civilians to do frog jump or roll in mud is not compatible with democracy

My point is that even their barracks in the middle of town is still a problem. They and their barracks should not be in civilian areas. If they live in barracks in the middle of cities that does not fix the problem .

My point s soldiers should ONLY deal with external enemies or clear insurgents like Boko Haram

Their barracks should be totally self contained and they should not leave their barracks for any reason.

Where possible and I agree this might not always be possible but where possible the barracks should be moved out of civilian areas
Over time the Nigerian Army have learnt to treat civilians as their enemy

The issue of training is when their service finishes. They should still be kept away. Many of them have anger and impulse control issues and government should invest in post service housing for the military away from civilians except those who have been deconditioned enough to submit to civilian rules. e.g soldiers do not believe in reporting any problem with civilians to the police. They believe they have the power to sort it out themselves and even assault police regularly

Take the issue of driving against traffic e.g that is a training and orientation issue