By Oghenerukevwe Divine Ogede,
My heart levitates in excitement whenever I listen to the Nigeria National Anthem adopted in the late1970s; my favourite verse being: ‘To serve our fatherland, with love and strength and faith, the labour of our heroes past, shall never be in vain, to serve with heart and might, one nation bound in freedom, peace and unity’.
Whenever we sang the anthem on the assembly in Masawa Primary School, with my eyes closed, my mind would open like a book and the verses would pour out of my soul in ecstasy. My eyes would water as I stood erect without moving any part of my body, not even an eyelash until the Anthem would be over. One morning, I kowtowed and kissed the earth after the Anthem to the cynosure of all eyes. The headmistress, teachers and pupils roared with laughter. I smiled sheepishly, looking away far from the curious eyes and like one that had just won a gold medal, I galloped to the rhythm of the drum in the air as I marched to my class. From that day, I earned the name Abdullahi, the gallant soldier.But that was years ago.
The life of a man appears long, but in reality, it is brief. I made destiny played out itself by joining the Nigeria Armed Forces in 2001 after obtaining a National Diploma in Engineering from Masawa Polytechnic. Masawa is where I was born and bred into a lanky young man with a baldhead sitting on my ostrich neck. The dream of joining the force became a nightmare to my parents. My father was an avid reader and I grew up to see that many Masawa people call him a walking newspaper. I got to know the meaning of the name in my secondary school.
I could not summon the courage to ask him why he was being addressed by that name because, he was a disciplinarian. I never dared look him straight in the eye especially whenever he was angry with me. At such times, his eyes would turn red like someone who had lost sleep for a full moon, sending an uncontrollable shiver down my spine. One seldom saw him without a newspaper in his hand. He had an avalanche of information from around the world at his fingertips. Many a time, his friends would come around to have first-hand information from him on what happened in the world, especially, matters related to politics.
He grimaced when I told him that I wanted to join the Nigerian Army with the motivation to defend our nation and fight corruption which had become a nightmare to our national lives at all levels. I told him I would wipe out banditry and stem the tide of the insurgency and high rate of genocide in Damaturu,Jos, Bornu, Port Harcourt and other states which were ravaged by some blood-sucking enemies of the country.
Although surprised at my knowledge about the goings-on in the country, my father was impressed that I was toeing his path and matching up to him in knowledge. He was proud I was becoming his true son who would seek information on the media rather than abuse their existence. I noticed he wanted to hear more, so I spoke further to satisfy his ego. Hundreds of thousand innocent Nigerians are being killed and buried in shallow graves daily as a result of religious conflicts, ethnic bigotry and chauvinism. The conflict in these states has claimed more lives than common diseases. It has led to irreparable sociopolitical and economic instabilities, I sighed, signaling a break.
My father who had been waiting patiently for me to finish speaking, hissed, looking livid and irritated by my argument and then said:” Walahi Abdullahi, you’re speaking nonsense. A bird that flies from the ground onto anthill doesn’t know that it is still on the ground”. Like the eyes would bow to sunray, I lowered my countenance as our eyes met. Now, it was only his voice that was resounding in my ears, I could not look at his eyes. He continued:” Have you gone mad? Many have been lost to the force. Don’t you know? The country does not worth your blood. Where are the soldiers, the ones that risk their lives fighting for the country? They have been abandoned in so many hospitals for friends and families to care for them on the hospital beds.”
“The ones whose family could not care for died there. Are you not aware that Mohammed was dismissed after being irredeemably injured in the war front? Mustapha who retired ten years ago resorted to begging when he could no longer cater for his family? ” Is it after all these things you know that you still want to stick your neck in what will destroy you? Kai, Abdullahi, think! Ka ji ko? He looked at me for a while, held my left hand and lifted me as he also rose.
He continued:” The leaders of this country know what to do to make the country a better place. Imagine the peanuts being paid to soldiers. Some time ago, they threaten to go on strike for non-payment of their salaries. The country would have been in a great mess if they had embarked on the strike. Many of our leaders would have boarded the next available flight not even minding the cost of their journey leaving you and me behind to suffer the trouble which they have hatched on the ground. Is that the country you want to defend? The country that cannot provide good weapons for their soldiers to combat external and internal forces. Money budgeted for ammunition was being looted by the same people who needed the protection most. What do you want to tell me that I have not seen, my son? “Leadership failure that is what we are suffering from in this our nascent democracy. So, you need to stay away from them. There are better jobs out there awaiting you”.
He admonished me and then my mothers voice trailed his. Kai! Walahi whoever sows the dream in you must be our enemy. Use your tongue to count your teeth. Abdullahi, you need not learn in hard ways. I don’t think we will ever feel safe and secure at our old age. Defending the nation is good but not at the expense of your life when and where it wont be valued. You need to have a rethink over your dreams before you finish your secondary school education. “Remember, you’re our only son and so much responsibility is rested on you in our old age and when we will be no more. Joining the army is being lost and denying us the respect of old age and at death”. My mother sobbed and sobbed uncontrollably. I felt tormented for tormenting my parents with such an ambition that put so much pressure on them. This reflection notwithstanding, many a times, I yawned the feeling off because I would have been extremely tired after their voluminous advice. At such times, I would feel a thingy in me that was giving me the I-can-do-it kind of assurance not to relinquish my happiness of joining the force to please my parents.
I got married to Aisha while I was in the army. We were expecting our first child when I unexpectedly received a letter sign from Abuja stating that I had been transferred to Borno State for a peacekeeping mission. My heartfelt as though it would leap from my chest after reading the content of the letter. Borno was famous for tales of horror. The forests of the state harboured the belligerent and most dreaded terrorist group. Those who have returned alive from Borno forest always told of the fierce madness of the jungle. The fear of the unknown gripped and overwhelmed me. I then diverted my mind to thinking about my wife and my unborn child. I remembered Aisha’ s vehement rejection of my marriage proposal when I told her I was a force man. She told me that she did not only dread the high risks of my profession but that so many of our men always have so many wives.
“You have signed your death warrant long ago, Abdullahi”, she disclosed to my dismay. I wondered whether she knew what she was talking about or it was just peddling unverified information in the public place.” You don’t even own your life again, neither your parents nor I do. Anything may happen to you at any time, and I don’t want to be a widow at the early stage of my life. I love you but I’m scared”, her frown deepened. “Aisha, you’re being so pessimistic. Haba! Nothing will happen to me, okay?” I placated her, wiping her teary eyes with my handkerchief. After a while, she beamed an infectious smile; I smiled back at her reflexively.
“I love you, Abdullahi”, she said softly as she ran to my embrace. “I love you too, Aisha”. I felt some warmth as our frames fused in cuddling. Eventually, she agreed to marry me that day and my joy knew no bound .I was dizzy. I didn’t sleep well that night. But by the morning, I was on my way to Borno State with officers from my area. Yusuf and I got talking on the bus. We occupied the front seats with our uniforms on. Drivers loved it, to scale Police’ harassment and other unnecessary delays on the highways. Yusuf was a senior officer and was only returning to his duty post in Borno. As the bus moved past landmarks, monuments, forests, mountains, valleys, cities and towns, cars and buildings, our conversations went deeper dwelling on the vast subjects. Yusuf was not only a brilliant soldier after all but an intelligent one also, knowledgeable in all the subjects of discourse. He was dark in complexion and should be between in his late thirties and early forties.
“Which state are you from, Abdullahi?” We were alighting the bus at the terminal in the barracks from where we trekked to our lodges when he asked me. I never gave it a thought that we had not shared that information since we had been talking. “Masawa division”. I slurred, yawning. He admitted I was tired. He tossed out brief smiles and said:” Let me show you your lodge. You need to rest now”. “Ok, that will be nice”, I replied as we headed a dormitory-like building shielded away by a semi-thick plantation. We walked passed the battalion, some laid in bed and some engaging in chitchat. He showed me a bed that had my name inscribed on it. I went there and laid on it; fatigued.
He went to one of them who leaned himself against the wall smoking a cigarette. He was fair in complexion with an elaborate scorpion calligraphed just below his neck. “The artist that did it must be a genius”, I thought. While they conversed in a hushed tone, he waved at me to come and join them. But I was too tired. He giggled. Yusuf might have told him to allow me rest. I fall asleep after a while I was rejuvenated when I woke up the next morning to say the Fajr prayer. The pain in my body had gone. I savoured the bright lights of the sun that shone through the windows into where I laid, making the house brilliant. I stood up and hurried to the bathroom. I looked closely at the bathroom door to see the inscription in bold letters: CLEAN UP YOUR MESS, YOUR MOTHER DOES NOT WORK HERE. I bolted after a quick shower. Yusuf and two of his friends were already waiting for me in the dorm. They were neatly dressed on their uniform and they smelled nice.
‘Walahi, you need to hurry up, were out of time. Were in the same group. Meet Usman and Hassan. Were ten in a group assign to Asu Community”. Yusuf said ‘Inakwana, nice to meet you guys. Yaya kake?” I asked in handshakes. “You’re welcome, Lafia Kalau”, They replied, beaming with smiles. Usman was chocolate in colour and the tallest among us. His hat was slouched at his back. “So let’s meet you”, Hassan said, expecting a reply. “I’m Abdullahi, a.k.a the Gallant Soldier”. I replied then, smirked.
The house roared with laughter when I introduced myself to them. Usman quickly interrupted my thought, “don’t look down on that pot guy. He moves faster than hare when the need arises”.
We burst into guffaw as he teased Hassan; pointing to his belly. I could feel the hot air his nose was blowing on my face as he held out his hand to shake me with smiles: ” Yowa, sannu. Don’t mind him, he is a naughty boy. Walahi, a noble task is ahead of us we need not laugh over it. If you’re not aware, let me educate you briefly before we leave. The community is known all over the states as the abode of terror, abductors, kidnappers, bandits, assassinators and human traffickers. The forest of Asu is a haven for the perpetrators of these heinous and nefarious activities. With the information, I consulted native doctors to prepare charms for the banshee to fester their evil” .My friend stressed that politicians and the community leaders use some of these idle minds to fight their opponents that want to square their paths in any given competition. And that, some of these boys and girls are cultists and street fighters that make the community unsafe. In fact, these vices have gone viral in social media. To curtail these vices, our concerted efforts are required.
Hassan cautioned in apprehension. I was imprisoned by fear and silence as he spoke authoritatively. My legs began to wobble, it was as if they were not part of my body anymore. On the other side where Yusuf was seated, Usman’s eyes grew puffy as he turned to look at me, towering on Yusuf’s shoulder while Hassan had been speaking. Yusuf, who had been staring at him, sucked his teeth with annoyance and said: “Crime and guiles of the community should not be subject here. We need to focus on facts rather than the fluff of bush radios and blogs which unfortunately misguides and misinforms. We need to watch out for them. Ka ji ko?”His wisdom disseminated life to my entire body. Indeed, my apprehension was swept away. “His words did not break bones, but my heart”, I thought aloud. “The government has placed curfew in the community”. Hassan declared.
“Yes, of course, that is why we are posted here. The assailants have sophisticated weapons and we only have IDPs ones to combat them. I’m angry with this country. The money budgeted for ammunition is in the bank account of our so-called leaders. They buy big houses in Nigeria and abroad instead of establishing companies in Nigeria to provide job opportunities for the teeming population and improve our economy, they are busy building the economies of other countries. Bad leadership, that’s all I see. Our leaders sleep with their wives and children in cosy beds, leaving jungle, creaks, slums, desert unimproved. The labour of our fallen heroes is now evanescent and in vain. Their despair children, wives, and families are living daily in depression over the death of their loved ones that have served the country meritoriously. Wallahi, it is hyper rubbish!” I whined.
Meanwhile, our driver who was honking repeatedly outside stopped abruptly as he saw us through the rearview mirror running out of our room with our AK47. Then, we began the journey with an old ballad as the vehicle sped along the tarmac road to Asu Local Government. “Serving our fatherland and defending its cause is our utmost priority Allah is to help our nation in this unjust cause. Cure the hurtful traits that lurk within us. Cure our ethnic and religious bigotry, Were one nation bound in freedom, peace and unity in this nascent democracy”.
We drove into the community to meet the irony of our song. Several houses were deserted and some burnt down. The people of the community ran to us when they saw us alighting from the vehicle. Frustration, anger, bitterness and loneliness were stamped on their faces. It was a real theatre of tears. An old man of about seventy-five years, looking scrawny with rough beards that covered the outline of his face, wept profusely over the gruesome killing of his wife and his four children; a boy and three girls. As I consoled him, my mind flashed back to my father. I was almost moved to tears.
“They kill many of us here. They invade the community every now and then killing our people. Were helpless, the government is doing nothing to rescue us. The house burning there, I laboured to build it, it was burnt down last night. And I don’t have where to go now”, another aged woman lamented. “Cant we make the country peaceful for ourselves? The government people were here last week to pay a visit to us. They promised to end the killings and bring the perpetrators to book. They also assured us to provide a place for the IDPs. The killers only came back last night to swoop on us, killing many”, another woman whined. “We see them only at election season when our votes are needed. But after voting them into power, they abandon our community for the killers to take over. Whenever they come here, we hear grammar, it is undemocratic, it is a primitive act and preposterous. We dey die every day. We don tire, we need urgent attention. Wallahi, only God will rescue us from these greedy and depraved leaders”. One of the youths spoke in anger. It was not an easy task consoling them over their losses. We then could assure them to go after the assailants and bring back those that were captured. The bushes reeked of decomposed corpses as we combed it. The earth had lightly covered some of them. We stepped on them now and then. The jungle was horrendously noisy. Fear immediately scuttled up and down my body as the bullets crushed obstacles on their way to flying freely in the forest. They felled tree branches and their leaves on us where we lay for snipes.
“You hear that? That is not AK47. It sounds deadlier”, Usman ducked in apprehension. “She is dehydrated, where can we get water for her?” ” From a distance”, Yusuf s voice interjected. That is Yusuf’s voice, Yari, who was a member of my group, whispered, cowed frantically. We hurried to the voice to see a little girl slouched on Yusuf’s back like a dead branch. Her entire body was wet with dew. She was somewhere around sixteen and seventeen years old from her blossomed breasts. She was very pallid. She told us that her name was Husana when we inquired of her name. “The abductors are many there. The girls are chained like slaves and they are being dragged around the forest. I manage to escape”, she disclosed.
Hassana’ s information fuelled us into the jungle again. We went into the dense forest. We heard a ruffle ahead of us suddenly. Someone hurrying away. It was one of the assailants. We thought it was an animal. He had taken a peck at us and was madding away. He shouted at the top of his lungs for help as I shot sporadically at the ruffled bushes. I smirked elated and my lips pocked with delight as we hurried to where he laid in his pool of blood, dead. “Kal, Wallahi n aka sh a shi,” I said. The bullets tore his left shoulder to his heart region.
As the sun emerged with golden fleece from the East, the glittering of the ray opened our eyes and we heard the resonating noise of the jungle. I jumped up and said my morning prayers briefly. There, Hassan hurried in with tears in his eyes, and said:” Yusuf is dead, he was whacked and beheaded. His corpse was dropped somewhere in the bush last night”. Yusuf was the head of his troop. We left for different locations at nightfall.”Maigida, how come? Yusuf? Dead?” I screamed, wiping off the leftover sleep in my jaded eyes. I wept rivers. Yusuf was the closest and bravest soldier I had ever met in the Force. “Indeed, danger knows not the brave”, I said out loud. Hassan said, he had walked into the bush alone and they thought he had gone for some gaming. After waiting for him for a while, they went in search of him. They found his corpse under a tree. We became apoplectic over his death.
“I know for sure his ghost wont come out of the jungle until his killers are brought to their graves”, I lamented. I learnt to tread the forest with caution after that fateful morning. Each passing day and night, fear laid in my heart like a heavy cross. My brain felt mushed up. It was that morning that marked the fourth morning that we have spent in the jungle. I became thirsty for water as we began our search for the girls again.
For the first time, my mind went to my parents, my wife and our unborn child. If I had been the victim, perhaps Husana would have been a widow. She would have been married to another man, leaving my child for my parents. It may be that she would take the child with her to her new husband’s house where the children of the man would maltreat the child. My mind went wild. I pushed away the second thought that dominated me. My face lightened up a smile as we come across a small pond of water. It was steaming with wriggling mosquito larva and butterflies. They flew away as we poked it and scooped up some water from it to quench our thirst. It was cool and indeed soothed the hotness in our body. We quickly moved on. Flies kept trying to land on my face to suck up the water I used in washing off salt from my face. For a moment, there was a long silence among us. We walked around without seeing anyone.
We returned to our dorm at dusk. All sorts of dreadful things kept flashing through my mind, mainly on how to survive the few days ahead of us. I have not had a good rest since we woke up. What I needed at the moment was to lie down and let my mind rest. I lay on the leafy earth and listened to some night bird cooed. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep as time glided swiftly by. Behold, there were sporadic wailings of gun in the air that woke me up suddenly. I felt it more than I heard it. The leaves rattled as many feet stepped on them. They killed five of our men that were on guard. I slowly brought out my head up from where I was hiding, turned, and glanced around the leaves and trees that were hiding me from the lights of their torch lights.
Behold, they were all fifteen of them in army uniform with five black alsatian dogs leading the group. My heart somersaulted in my chest and landed in my stomach as their leaders voice pierced through the silence of the night, bristling with rage and belligerence. “Come out of your hiding, you the most corrupt nation of the black race. We will always live to burry many of you in this forest. Heed my warning now and go back to your home to meet your family and loved ones instead of you hiding before death in shame and moving around like a belligerent ghost that is killed untimely”.
Then, I crept faster and faster over the moist path filled with dead leaves. It made my movement noiseless, though, my path was as dark as a tunnel and there were no stars or moonlight to guild my path as I crept to an unknown destination. I suddenly heard the dogs barking and sniffing with some footsteps hurrying towards me.They were after me now, I thought in a maelstrom of fear. Then I increased my pace rapidly like a scorpion. At those moments, my father’s advice looped in my mind: “Stay away from the wither tree and its wither branches” “The nation first daddy, to defend it and fight its course”, I would reply with smiles. I shook my head and chuckled sadly at the thought of it. If my men catch up with you, ready to say your last prayers. Surrender your weapons now”. The banshee leader sounded what looked like a note of finality.
Then guns continue talking, putting fears and apprehension on me. One that sounded like grenade reported elsewhere. I became alerted as my thought zipped around like a bird. A creature slithered up to my leg. But I was too wrapped up in fear to slap it off my body. It was a snake! I felt a sharp pain in my left leg as the snake bit me. Few minutes later, I became weak. The venom of the creature seeped into my skin and deeper into my muscle. I groaned, gnashing my tee th in pains. I quickly held my breath as one of the men stood not too far from the tree I was hiding, flashing his torchlight at my direction while the two dogs that were with him barked continuously as though smelling human stench. Their iridescent eyes rummaged through the bushes, sending fever around my body. I serpentined against the tree. He walked closer to the tree as if his instinct was telling him that someone was there. My eyes shot open and practically wet my pants as I gaped. “Allah have mercy on my soul”, I cried.
After starring around, he slapped off what look like a creature from his back and went back. I whimpered as his footstep died away. Then, I tormented the silence of the nascent morning with a drone. Smile imprinted on my face as I slapped dirt off my body. My eyes jumped around, bouncing off the treetop, to the direction where the man had gone, to the eerie birds that housed the tree cawing surreptitiously, as though commiserating with me in my misery. Then, I looked back. I knew I had crewed a mile away. I fished my pocket for my device and called the headquarters without further ado. It was 4 o’clock. The last time I checked my watch before the men invaded it was 1:30 am. My pains became severe. “I might probably die within milliseconds if they did not come on time to rescue me”. I thought. I gritted my teeth through the pain as I scratched at the snake bite that was itching me terribly.
My colleague drove in by eight o’clock. I was angry at their delay. They pleaded that their vehicle developed a fault on the way. They added that, they went back to get another one which led to their delay. They went in search of the men but they were nowhere in the forest. They took me to the hospital. The nurses laid me on the bed and quickly contacted the doctor for urgent attention. After an examination, the doctor said to my amazement that my leg would be amputated. He said that if the leg was not cut off, that, the poison will spread to other parts of my body which would eventually lead to my death. I shivered in fear as I heard him say that. I became obsessed.
I closed my eyes and allowed my tears to seep into the bed covers. The town went gaga the following day as the news spread all over the National newspapers, radio, television and social media. Journalists in their writing referred to me as a hero. They implored the government not to abandon their heroes that have fought gallantly for the country. I was happy at the write-ups. The soldiers that died were splashed on the front pages papers by photo-journalists. Moments later, I heard my parents voice and my wife at the front door. My father might have seen it in the newspapers and perhaps told Aisha. She has put to bed. The baby was strapped to her back. It was a baby boy. I wept as I peered to look at him. He was pretty and handsome. I stayed in the hospital with Aisha for two months.
The government abandoned me and my family later on. My salary was no longer paid as at when due. Whenever I wrote to them they would not reply me. I could not fend for myself and my family anymore. Hunger stroke my home. My wife and I quarreled now and then. One morning, while I was weeding my garden, my wife took her luggage and went with my son. I was left alone without a wife and a child to take care of me. My parents were in their old age. I paid someone to take care of them. All efforts I made to look for Aisha and my child failed. Daily, I walked around the compound like a reptile and stared into space disillusioned. No one saw my tears and shared my pains. Life tossed sadness to me. The sacrifices I made to the nation was shrouded in sadness.
The background of the author
The author, Oghenerukevwe Divine Ogede, lectures in Western Delta University, Oghara, Delta State, Nigeria. He is a member of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Delta State Chapter. Many of his authored literary works have been published. These include a short story: “A Drop of Mercy”, “Nesting on The Rocks“: An Anthology Volume 1, New Series, published in 2023 by Association of Nigerian Authors(ANA) Plateau State Chapter. His novels are include: “Unwanted Shadow” by Boox and Bransador Limited (2021), “Festering Wounds“, Kraft (2022); and “Orgy In The Garden” by Boox and Bransador (2024) while his poems are:”Too Many Radios Are On” (2024) and “Deltans Cried For Joy” (2011).