Appraising The Mercenary Culture

Bright Amirize

“Our values must be tested against fact and experience, so long as we recall that they demand deeds and not just words” – Barak Obama, in the Audacity of Hope.

A mercenary is one whoseactions, performances  or duties do not derive from personal conviction, volition, or commitment, but largely from hope of personal gains or fear of penalty or exposure. To carry out a duty with some mask over the face points in that direction. Mercenaries operate not only in the battle fields but even in university lecture halls, sacred places and political terrains. Any duty in private or official capacity which does not flow from personal volition, conviction and commitment is a duty that would not yield lasting value to the performer.

The question of value has much to do with what an individual holds sacred as an ideal that he embraces with conviction, commitment and loyalty. From such platform arises what gives meaning to the individual in life and the motivating force in what he does or seeks.

Those who do not have such cherished orientation in life qualify to be classified as mercenaries or occupational misfits. Individuals find joy, satisfaction and personal fulfillment doing what gives them value and meaning, not derivable from pecuniary gains.

It is quite dehumanizing for any individual to function like a robot or automation, teleguided by an alien force, for sale or purchase, given the polite name of mercenary. It’s mere hypocrisy!

Nation-building is a sacred duty which cannot be undertaken without qualitative personal values that bear the stamp of conviction, commitment and loyalty, which we call patriotism. Those who go into politics without such personal orientation can be classified as mercenaries.

Wherever the aforementioned core values and personal orientations become the driving force in what an individual does, duty becomes not only a pleasure, but a mission. Unfortunately, many developing nations are usually infested by mercenaries in various callings and activities, arising from many factors. The situation becomes more pathetic for nations that discard merit and the principles of selectiveness and justice in public appointments. Nigeria chose that way, the harvest is here.

No matter what material gains that mercenaries make, they are usually short-changed and de-valued on the long-run. Human life on earth is not a cheap bargain or a one-sided cash-and-carry affair.

The mercenary culture had arisen in the Nigerian political activities largely because of foundational and structural imbalances which cannot be unshed away or whose existence cannot be denied. What we call corrupt practices, including election rigging and defection from one political party to another, are parts of the manifestations of what we fear to address, but postpone.

Patriotism in its true meaning derives from a purpose-driven and value-based national ideology, whereby service rather than wealth and fame drive and define political career. So far, this foundation or orientation is lacking in our political culture. The evolution of a personal or national political culture demands the articulation of enduring and qualitative values to which politicians must remain committed with unwavering loyalty. Perhaps, Nigeria is yet to develop a true national identity. When would that be?

Arising from unresolved national issues, defection is one evidence of political shenanigans which makes the average politician a mercenary who can put a price-tag on what he represents or the value he holds. He goes into the market perhaps not for himself alone but at best to make himself a commodity for and on behalf of his “constituency”. In a situation where personal merit and integrity do not count, a rat-race coupled with ruthless scrambles would win rather than honesty. A mere pyrrhic victory in the true sense!

There is a psychological law which stipulates that the mind works against an individual when, behind his activities and engagements, there are some fears, doubts, guilt-feeling or crisis of the conscience. In many cases, things would work out well on the short-term, but on the long-run, the individual would pay some sad prices for the wound inflicted on the conscience. Wherever there is a gap between good conscience or personal conviction and the duty or activity that one performs, there is a sad price to be paid, sooner or later. Wherever decisions and actions stray from personal conviction, derailment follows, in spite of hypocritical self-righteousness.

Dr. Amirize is a retired lecturer at the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.