By Ochereome Nnanna
The Christmas
season is here. In no other part of the country is the Yuletide celebrated as
much as it is in the South East and South-South (the heart of Nigeria
Even though it has long been predicted that
this year’s Christmas is going to be hard on all Nigerians because of the
economic recession (depression, some economists now say), something special is
in the offing. President Muhammadu Buhari, through the Nigerian Army, has a
special Christmas gift for the people of the South East: a military operation
code-named: “Operation Python Dance”.
According to a statement signed by Colonel Sagir
Musa, the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 82 Division of the Nigerian
Army, Enugu
According to Musa: “the prevalent security issues such as armed robbery, kidnapping,
abduction, herdsmen-farmers clashes, communal clashes and violent secessionist
attacks among others will be targeted”.
The statement went on: “Above all, an elaborate Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) Line of
Operation has been planned during the Exercise. Interestingly, Nigerian Army
Corps and Services would conduct activities such as medical outreach, repairs
of roads, schools and other infrastructure across the South East Region”.
Before we examine the meaning and implications
of this exercise, let us reflect briefly on the army’s current operational
engagements nationwide, particularly the language in which they are coded. This
will offer insight into the psychological mindset of our nation’s elite
fighting forces: the Nigerian Army. Have you noticed that the motto of our Army
is written in Arabic, then translated into English as: “Victory is from God alone”?
I keep wondering how and when Arabic became part of our official lingua franca,
such that it is boldly used to write the motto of an Army that supposedly
belongs to all Nigerians. I thought English was our sole, official language?
For that matter, how did Arabic get mixed up with our national currency, the
Naira? What was the rationale for it, and when did we sit down to agree to do
it? Could it have been inserted there with the impunity of some vested
interests which has been growing wild of late?
