Publisher's Synopsis
Have you ever reflected on a situation where at the end of long years of service, military men needed to be rehabilitated and resettled at the point of discharge? So, what's the catch? This marker should elicit disquiet and demand closer scrutiny because a lot was concealed under this facade of an orderly denouement.
Although I partially grew up among soldiers, I never contemplated joining because it was such a monocratic and grumpy society. It was a forced group run on an unctuous and bruising call-and-response relationship; so, I could not isolate any motive that would make me join. However, a combination of factors and a grisly encounter with soldiers of the Nigerian Army, drove me to reconsider my bluster. In other words, all considerations of service to the nation and professionalism were subordinate to the incentive of barefaced self-interest despite potential risks. It was true for me at the point of entry, as it was for others regardless of decoys and intensifications.
However, I recognized it would be nice to put my story in perspective and provide a peek into my sojourn in the army since the manner of joining was as studied as the grace of exit. This book is therefore an expose but not the story of the Nigerian Army. It is a personal odyssey interwoven with my service. What I knew about the group before I joined and what I encountered were worlds apart. The tome reflects my innermost perceptions of the Nigerian Army akin to a Jonah in the belly of a whale.
