My recent conversation with an ex-military friend was both illuminating and sobering. He spoke with conviction about the institution’s potential to be the nation’s salvation, yet he was equally unequivocal in identifying its greatest impediment: the corrosive corruption among its own high command. This critical insight lays bare the fundamental choice our armed forces must confront.

We see this choice illustrated with stark clarity in the recent events of Madagascar and Nigeria. In one, the military defied self-serving politicians and stood with its citizens, upholding its sacred duty to the people. In the other, we witness the tragic model where the military and police forge an unholy alliance with the political class, advancing their own interests at the expense of the nation they are sworn to protect.

The lesson here is timeless. A military’s strength and honor are not derived from its alliance with power, but from its fidelity to the people. When it becomes a guardian of the ruling few, it sows the seeds of its own, and the nation’s, ruin. When it courageously sides with the citizenry, it becomes the very bedrock of national salvation.

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The onus, therefore, does not rest with the military alone. It falls upon us, the ordinary Nigerians, to elect leaders of character who will enact profound institutional reforms. We must create a military that attracts and rewards heroic and patriotic service, not one that becomes a haven for the business-minded seeking personal enrichment. For an institution is only as noble as the public spirit it reflects and the national purpose it is empowered to serve.

-Francis Onyema, 2027 presidential aspirant