Issues at stake: And they paid the soldier’s debt

In one of the scenes in a Shakespearean play, Macbeth shrouds the death of soldiers in all simplicity and banality.

When Young Siward of the author’s imagination dies in the battlefield, it is simply reported that he paid the soldier’s debt. The logic here is that it becomes an honour for any soldier who falls in the battlefield in defence of his fatherland.

Thus, the young Captain Emmanuel Yari and Lieutenant Colonel Beltus Honoré Kwene Ekwelle, who succumbed to the criminal bullets and landmines of Boko Haram on February 11, 2016, simply paid the soldier’s debt in all honour.

Captain Yari succumbed to bullets while Lieutenant Colonel Kwene Ekwelle bowed triumphantly to a landmine.

The two soldiers in their 30s had no time to savour the youthful vivacity in them. Unlike some of their cowardly colleagues, the duo chose to be at the frontline to defend their fatherland.

Despite their death, the victory of the Cameroonian defence forces over the terrorists cannot be said to be a phyric one. They blasted 162 Boko Haram insurgents to “thy kingdom come” and seized the Nigerian northeastern town of Ngoshe from the sect. They also freed both Cameroonian and Nigerian hostages from the stronghold of Boko Haram.

Thus, instead of putting up any resistance, Boko Haram retreated into the woods to count its dead. The bravery of the soldiers has made it difficult for the hoodlums to grab even an inch of the Cameroonian territory.

Last February 11’s scene was akin to the 1805 battle of Trafalgar in which the British Admiral Nelson lost his life. Yet, the aggressive and expansionist forces of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte failed to conquer Britain. Since then it has become a banal historical cliché that what Napoleon left undone is that he never conquered Britain.

Tribute must be given where it is due. That is the only way to obliterate the miasma of the current glorification of anti-heroes in our country. Lieutenant Colonel Kwene Ekwelle as presented by Fonka Mutta of CRTV was a military strategist. He did not only know the language of the artillery pieces. He was blessed with an agile mind and a razor sharp bilingual tongue.

Captain Yari, whose father is a retired colonel, was a true son of the father. He had the tenacity of a lion soldier who scared Boko Haram insurgents away from Armchide.

These two soldiers were non-pareils in their own rights. They refused to be part of the fraternity of 'think-same' and 'act-same' coterie of self-seeking soldiers whose idea of nation building begins and ends in their stomachs.

Many of the so-called soldiers in our country are by-words of cowardice.

They would die many times while waiting for their real death as soon as they hear the sound of a toy gun. When the real challenges come up like the Bakassi dispute and Boko Haram, they fake medical certificates to claim incapacity. Find out how the soldiers chicken out of going to the field and you will have a tale to tell.

Such soldiers, to say the least, constitute a national ignominy to the “honour and fidelity” corps. They are usually quick to pull the trigger only when their adversaries are harmless civilians.

Was it not the crude libido of a trigger-happy man that stirred the crisis in Wum recently? Is it that discipline in the army has been thrown to the dogs? How many soldiers have been caught among bandits in this country? Why must corruption be allowed to strive in a sensitive corps like the army? If it is not deliberate, why did top army officials boycott the seminar organised to map out strategies for the fight against corruption in the army?

The former US Ambassador, Janet Elisabeth Garvey, did organise the seminar at the Azur Hotel in Yaounde a few years back to stem the tides of corruption in the army. But top army officials downplayed it.

Apart from the ills perpetuated by some misguided elements, it must be stated in all sincerity that our army is a disciplined one that has fought to preserve the country’s territorial integrity.

Honour and fidelity, we swear!