By Mobolaji Sanusi “The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.” — Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933-, 30th US President from 1923-1929). The thrust of today’s piece, despite the title, is nowhere near the precinct of the acclaimed ancient city of Oyo Alaafin. It is about the banditry siege that occurred in the Ogbomoso area of Oyo State, which is a component entity within Nigeria’s federating jurisdiction. It is also about the less than dignifying treatment of our military in terms of adequate remuneration for their toil and labour against external and internal threats when occasion demands. A living encyclopedia of Nigeria’s journalism also clocked 87 midweek. Between May 15, 2026, and July 10, 2026, a period of 56 days, the nation was on tenterhooks due to outrage emanating from the wanton insecurity in Ogbomoso in particular and across the country as a whole. Surprisingly, banditry, with its associated abductions, kidnappings, and other acts of criminality, has for about two decades been a sad routine occurrence within the country’s jurisdictions, cutting across successive governments. Nonetheless, the one that happened recently in Oriire Local Government Area of Ogbomoso in Oyo State actually overshadowed the prevailing economic challenges and the accompanying public grumblings for fifty-six days. That incident, without doubt, put the image and ratings of the administration of President Bola Tinubu, GCFR, to a test of intense public scrutiny. Not even the Chibok schoolgirls’ kidnapping of April 14, 2014, caused so much public hullabaloo, social media harassment and mockery. The western part of the country, in particular Oyo State, remains the political hotbed of the country, with a known but unwritten norm that anything that affects that state, vis-à-vis the western part of the country, affects the soul of the nation. This perception was reinforced by the unprecedented outrage that accompanied the recent abduction of thirty-nine pupils and seven teachers from Oriire Local Government Area in Ogbomoso. With the return of the abductees, the socio-security temperature of the country, which had been at its highest, immediately reduced to a manageable level. The “Wild, Wild Western Region’s” reactions that trailed the Ogbomoso kidnapping no doubt affected the image of the leading figures in this administration. Every word, statement and action of these figures were not only taken out of context but also deliberately misconstrued with mischievous intent by traducers. The rage is over and Nigerians are now entrapped in the euphoria of the return of the abducted Ogbomoso pupils and their teachers. The emotional trauma and tears of grief from parents, relatives and public sympathisers have disappeared and have now been replaced with backslaps, smiles, joy and laughter, while life continues as if nothing happened when something avoidably grievous actually happened. While it is worthy of praise that anger and tears have disappeared, it should not be easily forgotten that the abduction had a price, paid with the blood of two of the abductees: Adegboye Adesiyan, killed during the bandits’ raid, and Michael Oyedokun, who was gruesomely slaughtered in captivity by the bandits, as well as that of an unstated number of soldiers and an officer, Lieutenant Felix Adele Isaac, who lost their lives during the rescue operations. It is sad to lose any officer, but worse to lose tens of uncelebrated soldiers, because all lives are equal before Almighty Allah. Going forward, the tradition of celebrating an officer more than dead soldiers in the line of duty is inhuman in contemporary times. After all, General George S. Patton, one of the most successful combat commanders in United States’ history, once admonished: “The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers.” The loss of beloved soldiers and officers should be mourned in the same way and manner. Sadly, parents and families of the officer and soldiers who lost their lives in the Ogbomoso abduction rescue operations will forever be enmeshed in the arduous task of mourning and missing them. Yet again, the nation moves on as if nothing ever happened and may never do anything meaningful for the memory or the well-being of the loved ones left behind. The question is: will the nation truly mourn enough the departed soldiers in appreciation of the ultimate sacrifice they and others in turmoil-engulfed parts of the country paid for our collective freedom from criminality? Those soldiers and an officer amongst several others who died in the line of duty could not be said to have enjoyed, while alive, remuneration that is in tandem with the risk associated with their soldiering duties to the nation. The foregoing brings one to the question of what actually is the true worth of a soldier within this jurisdiction. A glimpse into the ascribed deprecating official worth of a soldier was
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