The Soldier: Changing the Narratives – EPISODE 5

By Dr Bassey Emmanuel. The Corporal, The Doctor and The Poet

He refused a bribe and found an AK-47. He topped JAMB and wrote poetry for peace. Nigeria had to promote him.

I will not be a party to anyone collecting money under any guise in this checkpoint, Pascal warned his colleagues and issued an indirect threat to his guard commander by promising to report to the Duty Officer if anyone tries to do otherwise.

Everybody was afraid of Pascal and his stands on corruption and sharp practices in the system.

Within the short time he has been in the unit, everyone respected him for his uprightness, trustworthiness and discipline.

These qualities endeared him to the Commanding Officer so much such that he was commonly used as example to other soldiers in the unit. This drew envy from some of his mates, and some went to the extent of setting him up.

One day, a very rich man’s son drove to the checkpoint where Pascal was performing his sentry duty. Pascal flagged him down and requested him to open his car booth.

But instead of opening the booth, the driver offered to give Pascal a bribe to allow him pass, claiming he was in a hurry.

Pascal refused and insisted on seeing the booth.

When he discovered that Pascal had refused to give in, he reluctantly opened the booth and upon intensive search, Pascal discovered an       AK-47 rifle dismantled and carefully stocked away under the spare tyre inside the booth.

Pascal arrested the boy immediately and called on his guard commander to witness the discovery.

This singular act of Pascal earned him special promotion to the rank of Corporal on the recommendation of his CO to the higher headquarters, within 2 years of his service.

One day, Pascal was relaxing in his room in the unit having been on off duty, he recalled the role his friend’s played while he was admitted in the hospital the day he slumped and was rushed there. He knew that it is better to have people in your life than to have money because at times friends can do what money will never do. If he had no people around him but had money, money would not have woken up to rush him to the hospital. His friends and colleagues were always trooping into the hospital with different kinds of beverages and fruits. People who didn’t know him were wondering which VIP was on admission. He further recalled the doctor’s advice for him to take some rest as he slumped as result of exhaustion and stress. He had spent 3 days on admission, and the doctor gave him two weeks excuse duty to rest and regain himself.

By the time Pascal had clocked the mandatory 3 years in service to be qualified to attend higher institution in the army, he applied for JAMB, wrote the exams and came out the best in that year’s JAMB in the whole country.

Pascal was admitted to read Medicine and Surgery in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

With Pascal’s track record within the short period of his service and given that he had gotten the requisite rank of a Corporal, he was advised by the CO to apply for Army sponsorship to be able to go through the course with financial ease.

He did and was granted Nigerian Army Sponsorship for the period of his studies.

Pascal’s period of study in UNN was a very rewarding one as he was loved by everybody that came across him. His brilliance and extra performance made even the Vice Chancellor to know him.

Pascal recalled the occasion that made the VC meet him one on one for the first time.

It was as they were preparing for inter-university Literary Works Competition and announcement was made in the school for every interested student to register for the competition. Many students registered, Pascal registered too.

Many people were wondering what a medical student was going to do in an art-oriented field.

On the day of screening to get who would represent the school, many students were invited to showcase what they had and soon it was Pascal’s turn to perform.

Pascal, who applied in the Poetry category, went on stage and recited a well-constructed poem to the chagrin of everyone present.

Pascal recalled how he cleared his throat and after the usual protocols he began:

I am here to present a poem titled:

THE VETERAN

Oh! Death where is thy mercy?

Where is thy mercy that one cannot see?

I begged to be a man of peace

But now you come with all your powers 

5      In faraway a land of death,

All you hear is the sigh of gun

Once you hear you thank your star

For death is yet to come to you

10    Who is who is the question asked 

When it comes to fight for peace

Whenever the clarion calls,

You send your wife and children home

15    You go to war to seek for peace

You seek for peace in the midst of war 

Keep to rules and do your best

And death will shy away from you

20    Your wife and children are all at home

Praying for you to come in peace

To come in peace and stay alive, 

As rest is all you need for now

25    You need some rest and blessings too

A job well done you must be told

By all your friends and bosses too

For daring death in search of peace 

At the end of Pascal’s presentation, he had a standing ovation as the hall went agog with claps and shouts of praises. He eventually won the chance to represent his school in the inter-university zonal competition.

It was at that point that the VC, who was present live, shook his hands and congratulated him for the success and urged him to prepare harder to make the school proud nationally.

In the next 2 weeks, the Zonal competition was around the corner and Pascal was very much ready to make his school proud.

On the D-Day, Pascal was seen seated quietly at a corner of the hall, lost in his own thoughts.

He recalled his journey to Owerri, the venue for the Inter-University Zonal Poetry Competition, the previous day. He remembered how the car of the Head of Department of Linguistics, on which he was traveling, caught fire on their way. It took the efforts of other road users to put the fire out and bring the situation under control.

He thanked God that not much damage was done to the car that would have delayed them or made them to miss out on the competition which was scheduled for the next day by 9am.

Woman, how long have you heard from your son? Mr Vincent asked.

I spoke with him 2 days ago. He told me he was going for a school competition or so in Owerri tomorrow, Mrs Vincent answered. Competition? What type of competition? Mr Vincent asked with surprise. He said it’s called Literary Works Competition, whatever that means, Mrs Vincent added.

Okay but what is his business with literary activities when he is a science student? he wondered.

Hmmm, don’t you know your son again? Jack of all trades master of all, Mrs Vincent said and they both laughed.

I will be going out soon to attend the Cross River Day. Won’t you come? Mr Vincent asked.

I don’t want to come please, Mrs Vincent replied.

She recalled the last time she attended the event 2 years back she was almost suffocated due to the crowd running and pushing anywhere the masquerades go to catch a glimpse. If not for the presence of her brother who was protecting her from the people by whisking her out of the place she would have been stampeded. She concluded since then never to attend such event again.

The last but not the least, I now call on Pascal Vincent the representative of UNN to take the stage and make his presentation. Please a round of applause for him, the MC announced and everyone in the hall clapped. Pascal did not waste time in taking the centre stage to put forth his presentation.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Please, for the want of time, kindly permit me to stand on the already existing protocol.

My name is Pascal Vincent. I am here to represent my school, the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I have for you today a poem titled:

FEAR

In the midst of a silent night

A night when darkness refused to give way to light,

When the smile of the moon was as costly as a morning diamond,

Hei! Come here screamed a walking voice 

5     Yes what do you want from a walking corpse?

Your life or your money I seemed to hear

My worthless life for all I care

Bulldozing faster through the thick black air 

10 Run, run, run as fast as you can

Your safety depends on the wheel of your trembling feet

Outrunning yourself to safety the better for you

These words I was told by my inner companion

At once the world seemed so small a place and 

15 My head became as big as a caterpillar tire, while my effort at safety was increasingly deterred by the angry darkness and poor vision

Then my eyes seemed no longer the mirror of my soul

Oh! My God what do I do?

What do I do to escape from these night marauders? 

20    From these night marauders and enemy of progress?

Into thy hands I commit my spirit. Just then, I immediately pierced through the impermeable darkness like a bird catapulted by the force of a gun and found myself safely at home.

When I looked outside to see my assailants, I discovered no one was after me after all.

Thank you very much the panelists and my audience for listening.

Huuuuuuuu everyone shouted in the hall at the end of his presentation, clapping unending as they all stood up until Pascal left the stage.

Again, Pascal won the zonal competition.

The difference between Pascal and other contestants was that he was not only an orator, but also a fluent and bold speaker. He made sure he was original in all his presentations, not repeating either his old poem, or another person’s poem.

Fast forward:

The National Competition also came, and Pascal was to represent his zone in Abuja. The school made necessary flight arrangements for Pascal from Enugu to Abuja along with the HOD Linguistics.

To say the least, that was Pascal’s first time of boarding a flight. His experience is better imagined as he did not fail to grab the HOD at the slightest perceived unnecessary movement of the plane while airborne. Pascal started praying silently from the beginning of the flight to the end for fear of crash as he has heard a lot of stories about plane crashes around the world and being his first time, he couldn’t leave anything to chance.

However, he was able to comport himself when he remembered that he is a soldier.

Fortunately for Pascal, they arrived safely and alighted from the aircraft. They marched to the arrival hall of the local wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

To be continued…

– Digital Embassy…