Benjamin Adekunle, more popularly known as the Black Scorpion, died on Saturday
at 78. In spite of the self-aggrandissing books written on the Nigerian Civil
War by Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president and the officer who took over
command of the Third Marine Commando in 1969 from the then Col. Adekunle, the
Black Scorpion was and still probably remains the most acknowledged and
applauded hero of the war. He was doubtless controversial, hated by the Igbo
against whom he fought brutally and arguably unconventionally, and respected
and distrusted in equal measure by the Nigerian side for which he gave his all.
But no one, including officers who fought under him and were often made to
squirm by his abrasive style and imperious manner, doubted his brilliance,
courage, passion for the military, war, and Nigerian unity. His accomplishments
were bound to cause him plenty of problems, heartaches and, as it turned out,
early retirement. Unfortunately, he found no way to elude fate’s cruel and
unrelenting pangs.
His views during and after the war were unsparing, irreverent and
pungent. They all point to his high intelligence and focus, assuming they could
be purged of every hint of insubordination. He knew where he was going early in
his life, and he virtually accomplished his goals. His views on the military
and the country as a whole should in retrospect be of great use to us in these
troubled times, if we are sensible enough to revisit them. Indeed, it is
embarrassing that the same military nurtured by officers like Brig Adekunle has
proved ineffective and disoriented in the face of the ongoing Boko Haram
challenge. Had he not been weighed down by illness in his later years, it would
have been interesting to find out what he thought of the Nigerian response to
Boko Haram.
I do not of course wish to join the unending controversy over Black
Scorpion’s years in the Nigerian Army, and especially his command of the Third
Marine Commando, a name he coined irreverently in place of the official 3rd
Infantry Division. The controversy may never end, even as historians will
continue to revisit the subject. Instead, I wish to recount the brief encounter
I had with this officer whom I have come to respect and admire very profoundly,
far beyond his civil war exploits, far beyond his famous temper, and far beyond
his courage, brusqueness , ruthlessness and even recklessness. Apart from being
namesakes in a limited way, as a few of my readers would know, I share with him
a much more profound admiration for Napoleon Bonaparte, whose life and war
tactics I have studied. I have no doubt that had Brig Adekunle lived in
Napoleonic times or in the formative years of empires anywhere, he would have
been an empire builder himself. He had the courage, the vision, and the skill.
But I admire him for far more than these.
In 1996, as an editor, I had asked a colleague to go an interview him
for a special civil war anniversary edition we were planning. My colleague took
along with him a few past issues of our magazine as complimentary copies. He
received the reporter well, but declined to give an interview. Rather, he chose
to exchange banter with the reporter over a few drinks, spoke somewhat of the
civil war years, and tongues and tension loosened by wine, showed the reporter
bullet wounds on his body in order to put the lie to what some had glamorously
described as his magical powers during the war. If your tactics were stupid, he
pointed out sarcastically to the reporter, you would be ruined together with
your troops. We of course went ahead with the civil war anniversary edition,
even though Black Scorpion was of little help.
But a few days later, after having read and digested some of the
complimentary copies of the magazine given him, he gave me an unexpected phone
call. “I have just read copies of your magazine,” he began tersely, perhaps not
even knowing the identity of the person he was speaking with, “and I am shocked
by the attention you guys give to language. It is mature and of a high quality,
and I am impressed and proud that a Nigerian paper could pay such scrupulous
attention to the use of English.” I wanted to cut in and ask who was on the
line, but he gave no room, as perhaps was his style. His diction was solid, and
it didn’t appear to me affected. He used words as frugally and appropriately as
the US general, Douglas MacArthur, and his progression, cadence and erudition
were truly striking. After saying a few more things, all complimentary and
deeply analytical of the magazine, including its visuals and range of subjects,
he summed up that the production of the magazine was exemplary, and he would be
disposed perhaps next time to give us an interview if we gave him notice. Sensing
a pause at last, I quickly asked him who was on the line. “Benjamin,” he said
with a firmness and economy that gave insight into his character, and hung up,
disallowing me the joy of appreciating his compliments . He was apparently not
waiting to receive one, and would probably not have been touched by whatever I
had to say.
I have never ceased to be amazed. I knew he was intelligent to have, as
it were, assembled the 35,000-strong Third Marine Commando from one or two
battalions, and led it with aplomb and exampled doggedness, but I had no idea
he was a well-read and well-spoken man, or that he paid such exquisite
attention to the ornaments and fragrance of language. I confess that before
then I had had the funny and unsubstantiated impression of soldiers in these
parts as rakes and rambling men, an impression foolishly formed in spite of my
study of great generals in history like Hannibal, Alexander the Great,
Frederick the Great and a host of others.
Notwithstanding the controversy that dogged his time in the army, I
believe Brig Benjamin Adekunle was an authentic hero, perhaps as entertaining
and unorthodox as MacArthur, a great officer, a brilliant soldier and cultured
man. It is a pity that the politics that surrounded his exit from the army,
which politics is still undermining many otherwise brilliant careers and
subverting the cohesion and fighting ability of the Nigerian Army, was allowed
to affect the recognition the country he fought so bravely to preserve should
have given him.
It is however doubtful whether most Nigerians under 30 years of age
knew the Black Scorpion, let alone situate his achievements within the context
of Nigerian unity and Nigeria’s military history, especially in the light of
our desultory response to Boko Haram and the continuing ineffectiveness, if not
impotence, of our national leadership . Sadly, even my own children have no
recollection of the fiery general.
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