Nigerian Army is being reprimanded for its hostility to a beautiful love story which it ought to promote, the norm in other climes.
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Nigerian Army should have used the love story of Hannah Sofiat to drive recruitment into the military, but they decided to bungle it, says a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on social media, Reno Omokri.
The war against Boko Haram, bandits and other criminals have affected recruitment into the military, especially because the Nigerian Army suffers the most casualties among security agencies prosecuting the war.
For Omokri, the love story of Hannah Sofiat, the military personnel who fell in love with a youth corps member during the three weeks orientation ceremony programme of the corps in Kwara State, presented a Public Relations material for the military to promote the image of the Nigerian Army, he says. Rather, they decided to punish love, he regrated.
He recalled how the Turkish Army celebrated one of its soldiers who, during a military event, proposed to his girlfriend amid applause from Generals.
He says on Instagram while referencing the photograph: “This Turkish soldier proposed to his girlfriend during his oath-taking ceremony, and Generals of the Turkish army got up and clapped. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army, which is currently rehabilitating Boko Haram, is penalising Private Hannah Sofiat for accepting a proposal from a corper? Is that not madness? The Nigerian Army should have promoted the love story as a recruitment tool. They should have brought in the cameras and celebrated the couple. It would have built morale. But instead, they chose to punish love!”
TheNiche had reported how Hannah Sofiat A, a private in the igerian Army, is being held in detention for accepting a love proposal from a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Kwara State.
A video of the two love birds appeared on social media with the male corps member kneeling and inserting a ring on the finger of the soldier at the NYSC camp in Kwara State.
The two lovebirds later hugged and kissed to the applause of other youth corps members.
The Nigerian Army later arrested the Private soldier and threw her into detention amid protest by Nigerians who wondered what could be the offence of the lady.
Activist, Yele Sowore, said the Nigerian Army is wrong to detain the female soldier for accepting marriage proposal in uniform since it is not an offence in the military.
“There is no law that prevents anyone from accepting a marriage proposal in military uniform but as it is typical of the pre-civilization Nigerian military, she was clamped into detention at Sobi Military Cantonment in Ilorin, Kwara state,” he said.
