THE PROPAGANDA RAZZMATAZZ HARDLY AMOUNTS TO MILITARY MUSCLE As serial battlefield displacements inflicted by Boko Haram become the armys multiplying embarrassment, it ratchets up its familiar rhetoric. But the fictitious facade is eerily self-evident. With its flamboyantly overrated superiority now in shreds before a bemused, disbelieving public audience, the army is, presumably, diving into its pantry of war propaganda to resurrect its squandering fortunes. It is fittingly unsurprising then that, a mere twenty-four hours after traditional and social media were animated by stories of Boko Haram triumphs and army capitulations from Gwoza to moments away from Maiduguri, army victories are spontaneously squeezing out of the woodwork. They include outlandish multiplications of the usual refrain of gallantry and artistic embellishments of territorial reclamations. The military lexicon is, thus, being overworked with deliberate intent, the intent being to create the appearance of imminent triumph. Yet, the propaganda razzmatazz is impoverished of persuasive proof of actual battlefield resurgence. The lack of pictorial evidence of Boko Haram dead bodies strewn all over the theatre, or of captured terrorists and machinery recovered from them, punctures the armys fitful facade. Confirmations untendered are an opportunity squandered. It is part of the familiar nature of war to display proof of enemy losses and even gloat over it, just to reinforce the publics sense of security and invigorate its support. In this particular war, the burden of proof rests squarely on the armys moribund shoulders. The Civil War was notorious with Federal troops exhibiting conquered Biafran cities and captured Igbo fighters - some grotesquely dismembered - with flash and pageantry. Because the government is usually generous with such uncontroverted corroborations of its declarations, the drought of evidence is out of character. The simple explanation, presumably, is that the large claims are larger-than-life theatrics in war-making imagery. It is make-believe, times wishful-thinking, equalling amusement. So we are witnessing desperation overdrive hurriedly conceived to restore dwindling confidences. After serially and publicly admitting that the army is a moribund mechanical wreck needing $1 billion in foreign loans for its exhumation and resurrection, Goodluck Jonathan must now find a way to rationalize the armys sudden burst of battle vigor. He must find a way to put it in perspective. He must explain why the army suffered so many humiliations, including the loss of Gwoza and its unilateral declaration as a Boko Haram caliphate, which thegallant army has not dared to challenge. However, the army is saving Jonathan the tedious labor by rehashing its familiar farce: it claims its multiple retreats under Boko Haram bombardment - an unintended admission of defeat, deflating previous denials - were tactical maneuvers for reinforcement. Yet, its resort to social media to announce its triumphs - tweeting and face-booking - illustrates its lack of confidence in its own averments. The virtual anonymity of Tweeter precludes the face-to-face media circus that would have provided the opportunity for journalists to ask questions for direct clarification. Despite the armys bamboozling arrogation of resurging gallantry, its desperate need of overall refurbishment is not in question. Antiquated weaponry - some of it displaying relics of long-forgotten wars of the world - is not the pride of modern armies, which are the illustrations of awe-inspiring killing machines. Against a ragtag band of deranged Islamic zealots, the Nigerian army, which ought to be mechanically and strategically comparable to state-of-the-art fighting forces on the globe, is proving to be a miserable waste of public resources. To reverse the ignominious trend, a great deal of mental and moral rearmament on the part of the militarys super brass - its morally inadequate top echelons - is no contest. Latent self-aggrandizements must be abandoned. The old attitudes that diminished the imperative of building a formidable fighting force must be dispensed with and supplanted by a new appetite for a fearsome army. Vladimir Putin is dismembering Ukraine today because Russia has the mind and muscle to do what it wants. NATO and the Americans can only voice their frustrated indignation, without even flexing muscles. The army says it is now attacking Boko Haram in full force; so far, that is demonstrably nothing against something called medievalist madness.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 10:00:14 +0000
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