From Unknown Soldiers to Unknown Gunmen, & Unknown Cane-Men -Ik Muo, PhD.

The unknown soldier in Nigeria & America

There is serious confusion in the land about the appropriate nomenclature for our  increasing horde criminals and non-state actors and this is caused by our various official information managers,  journalists, and internet-warriors especially those of them like me, who are good at manufacturing words. They have now compartmentalized our diverse bands of criminals and anointed them with different Baptismal names, which very often, are geographical in orientation. Last week, some bloodthirsty marauders invaded the Kastina-Ala LGA of Benue State and dispatched five scores of our compatriots to the great beyond. They were described as ordinary gun-men. The same last week, Senator Gulak was murdered on his way to Owerri-Airport and it was ascribed to ubiquitous Unknown Gun Men, (UGM)who have franchise over the East. The Police however ‘got involved’ and changed the narrative, ascribing the murder to IPOB/ESN.   At the same time, an armed gang attacked Beri Town in Bobi District of Niger State, burnt down the police station and murdered 13 fellow Nigerians, including a police man. The criminals were described as bandits. Penultimate week, the criminals did the unthinkable and demystified what was left of our ‘security architecture’ by attacking Aso-Rock and these ones who deserve a medal for their audacity, were described as burglars. However, a band of 20 ICT-Compliant criminals who robbed residents of Alafia Estate, Ibadan for about 3 hours with POS on 31/5/21, were  concurrently  labelled, gunmen, armed-robbers and hoodlums by Punch Newspaper of 1/6/21!

So, what differentiates armed criminals in  Kastina-Ala from those in Owerri, Ibadan or Aso-Rock?  Before the war, we had burglars and petty thieves. After the war, when our youths lost their innocence and became gun-friendly, we had armed robbers. There was a time we had area-boys, OPC, Niger Delta militants( including the avengers), MASSOB( which has lost its currency and vibrancy) and various street gangs. Now we have ordinary gunmen, bandits, terrorists, Koko-haram, kidnappers,  ordinary herdsmen, Fulani herdsmen, foreign herdsmen, cattle-rustlers, hoodlums, ESN,  100-boys gang and  the latest in town, Unknown Gun Men( aka: Unmenknowngun or Ungunmenknown).  That is one of the reasons why we are in this security mess: we can’t even agree on who or what the criminals are!

This whole ‘unknown’ phenomenon  did not start today; it started with Jacob, our ancestor in faith , who  was the first person to have an encounter with the ‘unknown’ when he battled with an Unknown Wrestler throughout the night (Genesis.32.24).  But that is by the way. In 1920, Hamilton Fish, proposed a legislation to create the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in remembrance of all those who perished in the American Civil war, to become a ‘shrine of patriotism for all the ages to come, a source of inspiration, reverence and love of country for future generations’. The Unknown Soldier was interred on 21^st November, 1921 (the year-long centenary anniversary is on now). In Nigeria, there was a cenotaph of Soldier-Idumota, also an unknown soldier, located at Idumota Lagos, in remembrance of Nigerian soldiers who died in  the World wars( wetin concern us with WW1 & WW2 sef?). After the Nigerian Civil war, we now have unknown soldier, ‘resting’ at his tomb in Abuja, who represents the soldiers who died during the war. I don’t know if Biafran Soldiers are represented by that unknown soldier, now resting at Abuja. Yes; they are soldiers, and they died and that was during the same Civil War. (By the way I am compiling a list of those who died in the Biafran war-front in my community. I hope to erect a Cenotaph of the Known Soldiers for them, all things being equal).

However, beyond this official, patriotic and revered ‘unknown soldier’, we have another  group of Unknown Soldiers( plural), despised  by and alienated from, the people. Whereas the first soldier is really UNKNOWN, the second is group of  fully KNOWN soldiers, who are sent on ‘orders from above’ to go and ‘teach  these bloody civilians, a lesson’ by spilling blood, tears and sorrow. It became popular in Nigeria when, as a part of Government Magic, Fela’s house was invaded by ‘1000 soldiers’  who destroyed his ‘Kalakuta Republic’ and  tossed Fela’s 78 year old mother( political mama, ideological; influential mama!) from the building leading to her death.

Unknown Soldiers doing their thing @ Kalakutta republic,18/2/77;  Fela, The ‘President’

This happened on 18/2/77, when I was in Upper-Six at Federal Government College Enugu; it was during the first Obasanjorian era. The government locked all the residents of that republic in jail for about 1 month, seized the lands of the republic,  and thereby rendered its thousands of ‘citizens’ homeless. (you may need to listen to the , Unjkonwn Soldier, Fela, 1981). Fela, the President of the ill-fated republic believed, and most of us agreed and still agree with him, that he was ‘delt with’ for criticizing the military junta, especially for rough handling the idle-civilians, the extravagance of FESTAC and his acerbic tongue  and fiery music as exemplified by Zombie.  Since them, the unknown soldiers have been on duty everywhere including during Ali Must Go,  Odi and Zakibiam  Massacres the 2019 River State Gubernatorial election, along our highways  and at Lekki Toll-Gate on 20/10/20. In effect, the unknown Soldiers are known but those who deployed and still deploy them, do not wish them to be known, hence they are shielded and that is why they remain unknown.

And now, to the ubiquitous and clinically efficient UGM. They are the latest entrant into our congested criminal and agitational vocabulary (to be continued).

 -Ik Muo, PhD. Department of Business Administration, OOU, Ago-Iwoye

“Find a great mentor, someone who has already been through the many challenges of being an entrepreneur..” -Jodi Levine

Entrepreneurship in Practice: Cases, Challenges and Lessons By IK, MUO PHD is now available on Amazon, since 14/5/21. Click here to view