Reuben Abati, former spokesman to
immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan, slammed the Nigerian military over
its operation code names.
Abati said army’s operation
code-names such as: Operation Python Dance, Crocodile Smile were wrong because
a python does not dance neither does a crocodile smile.
In an article entitled, ‘Python
Do Not Dance,’ the former presidential spokesman noted that the Nigerian
military has never been so clever in coming up with operation code names.
He wrote, “Many of them are dead
give-aways (Operation Lafiya Dole, Operation Pulo Shield, Operation Maximum
Safety, Operation Crackdown) or so stupidly incongruous they evoke instant
suspicion (Operation Python Dance, Operation Crocodile Smile). Pythons don’t
dance. Crocodiles don’t smile.
“Wars have been fought over the
use of wrong codes; nations have been sabotaged due to poor communication.
Whoever came up with the code name – Operation Python Dance- (sometimes a code
name may be computer generated) may have been aiming for irony, but it was
strange irony given the facts of the situation and the manner of operation. I
make this point to argue that the Nigerian military has messed up Operation Python
Dance II in the South East conceptually and operationally, and the attendant
arrogance does not serve the Nigerian state well in my view.
“A dance is accompanied by music,
it is celebratory in its kinetic and spatial expressions, and it is probably one
of the most ingenuous explorations of the human frame. Accompanied usually by
music and the symbolism of movement and flexibility, a dance, vertical,
horizontal or earth-bound is one of the wonders of human creativity and the
most universal of human languages.
“There is something called snake
dance. It is of course celebratory. To say a python is coming to a community to
dance is a revelatory oxymoron. A python swallows, it cuts off blood,
constricts and suffocates, it is a pretentious animal that curls itself up when
it is ready to eat, and then strikes, employing the techniques of velocity,
ambush and surprise.
“In December 2016, the pythons of
the Nigerian military went to the South East on Operation (I) but they did not
blow their cover. They said they wanted to help reduce crimes during Christmas.
In September 2017, they blew their own cover, and revealed the absurdity of
their cryptonym. They did because they behaved exactly like pythons. If that
was meant as a covert operation to protect the sovereignty of the country in
the face of “seen and analysed threat levels” in the South East, the Nigerian
military got it terribly wrong. There is every reason for other military
authorities in the international community to laugh at Nigeria.
“The military admittedly can
conduct routine exercises to prepare its men, to tune up or to check out the
country’s territorial integrity. Before and even shortly after the civil war,
Nigerian soldiers occasionally came out of their barracks and drove round the
town. They used to sing, march on the streets and dance inside their trucks and
wave at the people. The people waved back, and in due course, many children
mastered some of their songs. In our neck of the woods at the time, there is an
Alamala barracks in Abeokuta, one popular song was: J’amala n si ko, mo ti
j’amala ki n to lo s’ogun, j’amala n siko”.
“The latest instance is the
bungled operation in Abia State. Operation Python Dance II did not have to take
place in the streets of Isiama Afara in Umuahia, Abia State, close to Nnamdi
Kanu’s father’s house. The public show of force could have been done anywhere
else in the South East. Strutting military force close to the home of the
leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, who in the last year has been busy
mobilizing his people, and making demands on the Nigerian state is an
undisguised act of provocation with all the pythonic elements of invasion,
surprise and suffocation. It was the equivalent of the state descending to the
level of rabble-rousing. This happens when an institution like the military
opts for street politics, and our military certainly exposed itself in ways that
called its professionalism to question in the last few days.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
Irresponsible and senseless remnants of the worst administration in Nigeria still allowed to show their face in public.Python only dances when feeding after latching on to a meal,only real people with knowledge and understanding knows and to find out if a Croc does smiles,try extending your hands over a Croc infested river to see a smiling crocodile say "thanks" to you
ReplyDeleteI stand by this comment. Makes me laugh a lot. Please keep posting. Though I didn't read the story as I believe nothing positive will come out of Abati.
DeleteStupidity is when a full grown man assumes that literary expression of words should be the same as tactical codes and idiomatic expression!!!
ReplyDelete