The unknown soldier.
A couple of weeks ago, I was visiting a company compound (a housing complex where all of the ex-pats of the same company and their families live). Some of the local employees were on strike and had blocked the entrance to the compound. I was able to get in through a back pedestrian entrance. At the end of my visit, my driver Ade picked me up on the road in front of the compound and pointed to a military truck.
"Do you see the army truck? It has no number." he says. "It's the unknown soldier."
He explained that the government deploys unmarked trucks and solders with no visible identification to trouble spots. If the striking workers had caused trouble, the soldiers could use deadly force without fear of being reported.
I told Ade I thought that was frightening. Ade just chuckled in that Ade way of his. Maybe that is how Nigerians cope with living in a country riddled with corruption and injustice. Life for most people is a day-to-day existence. There's no time for political change. So you can either get angry and bitter. Or just laugh and thank God for another day.
"Do you see the army truck? It has no number." he says. "It's the unknown soldier."
He explained that the government deploys unmarked trucks and solders with no visible identification to trouble spots. If the striking workers had caused trouble, the soldiers could use deadly force without fear of being reported.
I told Ade I thought that was frightening. Ade just chuckled in that Ade way of his. Maybe that is how Nigerians cope with living in a country riddled with corruption and injustice. Life for most people is a day-to-day existence. There's no time for political change. So you can either get angry and bitter. Or just laugh and thank God for another day.
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