Friday, Oct. 4, 1985
Opinion
University Daily Kansan
5
Military's failing rule risks Nigerian stability
Observers of the Nigerian scene awoke in late August to the shocking news of yet another military coup — the sixth since 1966.
The tingleleaders of the coup blamed the ousted Maj. Gen. Mohammed Buhari's regime for failing to end widespread corruption and for the absence of cohesion in his regime.
They said a few people in the deposed regime had arrogated to themselves the right to make decisions for the majority of the Supreme Military Council, the nation's ruling body.
The coup's leaders charged that after 20 months there was clear indication that Buhari lacked the ability to lead Nigeria. The economic and military rule defeated the nation under civilian rule were still prevalent, they said.
Scarcity remained and the cost of essential commodities soared beyond the reach of an ordinary citizen, they further maintained.
Guest shot
John Mbapuun
peacekeeping forces during the 1962 crisis.
The Lebanese and Chadians in recent years have not forgotten the greigarious and friendly Nigerian soldiers who served under the U.N. peacekeeping forces in those countries' periods of political crisis.
Perhaps the best thing about the Nigerian army in those days was that the word "tribe" was unknown in the entire setup. The Nigerian army was able to avoid the tribal divisions so prevalent in other African countries.
I shudder to think that this allimportant institution may be succumbing to political rhetoric instead of demonstrating military precision in matters affecting the nation.
'My worry is that a military failure to hold Nigeria together could be the beginning of anarchy.'
They charged that hospitals were in deployable conditions and were without essential drugs, while doctors who protested these conditions were rounded up and thrown in detention.
What has made the military, which has been the last hope for Nigeria, succumb to degeneration?
The Nigerian army was set up on the fine British military tradition and is known to be one of the finest army establishments in black Africa.
The Nigerian armed forces has won the admiration of neighboring states and other countries for its discipline and friendliness.
In the early '60s Nigeria's military power was recognized by almost all African states. In 1962, Nigerian soldiers were sent by the federal government to President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania from an innumerable military uprising.
In the Congo — now Zaire — the Nigerian army and police won the admiration of the Congolese while serving there as the United Nations
The repeated coups are causing the Nigerian military to lose international respect. It has departed from the cohesion shown by the past military regimes of Gens. Gowon, Murtala and Obasanjo.
The Punch, a Lagos newspaper, reported that the air was pregnant with discontent among military personnel. For the first time, soldiers have been warned against the proliferation of tribal unions in the barracks. The military feared that such unions intended to cause disunity among members of the armed forces.
Perhaps the ordinary soldier was beginning to question his place in the overall scheme of things, or else finding solace in institutions outside the military.
My worry is that a military failure to hold Nigeria together could be the beginning of anarchy. Or to quote the Times of London, "The military rulers are the ninth group to wrestle with its problems since independence. Time is not on their side."
So you are scared and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith
There's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're all right
Oh. and that's all right tonight . . .
The Boss will survive icon status
These words are from the first verse of "Thunder Road," the opening song on the "Born to Run" album. When I first heard them more than five years ago, I thought they were some of the most profound words ever written about the human condition.
Bruce Springsteen wrote them.
I used to know a lot of the words to "Thunder Road," and to "The River," "Rosalita," and even "New York City Serendade." I could recite all of "Born to Run" if asked.
I have two magazine covers pinned to the wall near my desk in the Kansas newsroom, and both of them feature the Boss. I consider "Born in the U.S.A." to be one of the landmark albums of the 1890s, if not the entire rock 'n' roll era.
Yes, it is silly; I should have outgrown all this by now.
But perhaps I don't have to for a while. Much of the nation seems to be gripped by the same silliness that surrounds New York, according to Newsweek, an icon.
Visibility used to be an occasional appearance at a no-nukes concert. Now, it is five-figure donations, "We Are the World" and a part in "Sun City," an anti-apartheid song. Time magazine recently called Springsteen the most formidable rocker since Elvis Presley.
More than seven million copies of "Born in the U.S.A." — the largest sales in Columbia Records' history — have disappeared from the racks in the United States. It has lingered in the top 10 on the charts for about a year now, and his tour has brought hysteria to many cities.
John Hanna Managing editor
For all this, he gets attention. The Boss is popular.
Things were much simpler once. He would release a record; it would go platinum; Rolling Stone readers would decide it was the best record of the year. The record would be largely forgotten by the public after four months.
Then he chose "Born in the U.S.A." for the title of his new album. Springsteen even put a flag on the cover; that made creating the Hype even easier.
Republicans must have drooled. They had to have seen the images of thousands of young people, fists raised in the air, chanting "I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A. . . ." "A hero worthy of Us, the People, said George Will, the conservative columnist.
Will, President Reagan and the young Republicans who "listen" to Springsteen conveniently forgot the first two lines of the song. "Born down in a dead man's town./The first kick I took was when I hit the ground."
John Wayne and Gary Cooper were dead. The country needed someone, a patriotic, strong hero.
The fall will come, of course,
perhaps because of an unfortunate
incident that shows Springsteen is
human and not a god, or because
the next album, no matter how good it is.
will not measure up to "Born in the U.S.A."
A new, flashier One will have been found. When it happens, some will say Springsteen's fate was that of Michael Jackson or Boy George or Prince: to be picked up and discarded by the youth culture.
Springsteen, of course, will not have changed much. His music and outlook probably will be much the same, except that he might have a family by then.
And my feelings won't change; he just won't be cool anymore.
Mailbox
No right to break laws
Draft registration resisters are cowards and yellowbelies and their message does seem to be that they refuse to defend the United States. How else can it be construed? The purpose of registering for the draft is to build the armed forces in the event of war. What Mr. Hall ("Polluted
logic," Oct. 2) fails to understand is that not now a draft.
that concern is rightly or wrongly placed.
Mr. Hall mentions Grenada, Lebanon and Nicaragua. Has the United States sent drafted U.S. troops to these places? Not likely, because there is no draft. Draft registration has nothing to do with these areas of U.S. concern, whether
I do not universally condone warfare or other "muscle-flexing." I hope, however, that people would defend their country in time of war.
Refusing to register for the draft will not prevent war nor will it change policy. There are any number of ways to get things done legally and
it is your duty to do those things if you disagree with policy, Voting for (or against) the policy or sending letters to elected officials are powerful tools. It is also your duty to follow the law. If you happen to disagree with the law, it is your further obligation to try to change it.
Martin E. Pittier Lawrence senior