Нигерийская армия обязана наказать солдата за просьбу о деньгах в TikTok и внедрить цифровую дисциплину

THE Nigerian Army must punish indiscipline where it occurs. Punishment is necessary for deterrence, but it is not enough. If the Army wants to address the growing problem of soldiers using social media in ways that compromise the dignity of the uniform, military discipline, and operational security, it must simultaneously enforce the rules and educate its personnel sufficiently to understand them. The recent case of a Nigerian Army soldier who appeared in uniform during a TikTok live session while soliciting financial assistance from content creator King Pedro has brought this issue back into public attention. According to reports, the soldier, who had served for about five years attached to the Nigerian Army Aviation Hangar in Minna, was arrested in Lagos. His conduct understandably generated criticism. The Nigerian Army uniform is not ordinary clothing; it represents the authority, dignity, sacrifice, and responsibility of the Nigerian state. A soldier wearing it carries an institutional identity far greater than his individual personality. He cannot behave online as an ordinary civilian while expecting the public to separate his conduct from the institution he represents. If, after due process, he is found to have violated applicable regulations, he should be appropriately punished. There must be consequences for violations. However, the military must also answer an important question: How sufficiently have serving personnel been educated on the rules governing their use of social media? Most soldiers joined the military after growing up with Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, and X as part of everyday life. They entered the military with civilian habits of taking photographs, making videos, livestreaming, and sharing personal experiences. They then became members of a highly regulated institution where some of these seemingly ordinary behaviours suddenly acquire military implications. It is therefore not enough to assume that because a regulation exists, every soldier understands it. A policy sitting in a document is not the same as a policy that has been properly taught, understood, and internalised. If the Army wants to hold personnel accountable, it should also demonstrate that reasonable steps have been taken to ensure they know what is permitted and prohibited. There is nothing inherently wrong with soldiers being on social media. The military cannot and should not disconnect its personnel from modern society. Soldiers have families, friends, interests, and lives outside their official duties. Social media can also serve legitimate purposes such as communication, public education, recruitment, and community engagement. The issue is not whether soldiers should use social media, but how they use it. A soldier can use social media responsibly without compromising the Army, while another can use the same platform to bring disrepute to the uniform, reveal sensitive information, expose operational activities, or inadvertently provide valuable intelligence to an adversary. READ ALSO: Army urges Nigerians to stop demoralising troops on social media Beyond the dignity of the uniform, there is an even more serious concern: operational security. A photograph that appears harmless may contain information valuable to an adversary. Modern smartphones and social-media applications interact with location services, geotagging, and metadata. Even where a visible location tag is absent, photographs and videos may contain clues about where and when they were taken. Backgrounds can reveal military facilities, roads, landmarks, and terrain. Timing can reveal patterns of activity. Several apparently harmless posts can be analysed together to produce an intelligence picture. The average young soldier may not fully understand this technology, which brings us back to the responsibility of the institution. The battlefield has changed. The smartphone is now an intelligence source. Social media posts, photographs, and location data can all become actionable intelligence. A seemingly innocent TikTok video may reveal far more than the person posting it understands. This is why operational security, social-media discipline, digital footprints, geolocation awareness, and responsible smartphone use must become compulsory components of military education. Soldiers should be practically taught how location services work, how metadata can expose information, why real-time posting during operations is dangerous, how backgrounds reveal locations, and why disclosing deployment, unit, or movement carries severe consequences. They should understand not only what they must not post, but why those restrictions exist. The Chief of Administration and the Chief of Training at Army Headquarters are strongly urged to institutionalise social-media and digital-security education across the Army. The same applies to the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force. Every soldier attending a course for career development, professional upgrading or promotion should receive structured instruction on the military’s social-media policy. All Corps schools should insert Social Media Policy, Digital Conduct, Operational Security, and Geolocation Awareness into their curricula. This should apply regardless of whether the soldier is attending a technical, administrative, or combat arms course. Digital conduct is relevant to every soldier. Officers must not be excluded. Young Officers’ Courses and command courses should contain appropriate modules on social-media policy, operational security, and digital communication. This should not be a token lecture that personnel quickly forget; it should be practical, regularly refreshed, and formally assessed. There is nothing contradictory about disciplining the soldier in the recent case while questioning whether the Nigerian Army has done enough to educate him and his colleagues. If he knowingly violated a clearly communicated regulation, the disciplinary process should take its course. But if thousands of soldiers have never received adequate, structured education on social-media regulations, the institution must accept responsibility for correcting that deficiency. Punishment addresses the individual; education addresses the system. The military needs both. There is also a human dimension. The soldier’s conduct may have been wrong, but the public humiliation that followed should make every Nigerian uncomfortable. A military uniform does not erase a person’s humanity. If a soldier reaches a point where he feels compelled to publicly beg strangers for money, questions should be asked regarding what circumstances brought him there. This is an argument for examining military welfare. The President’s recent approval of improved remuneration for military personnel is welcome, but remuneration is only one aspect of welfare. Are soldiers adequately housed and equipped? Do they have effective channels for communicating genuine welfare difficulties without resorting to social media? A soldier carrying a weapon in the service of the state should not be placed in circumstances where desperation or neglect damages both his dignity and that of the institution. Nigerian soldiers are trained to identify physical threats, handle weapons, and maintain operational security. They must now be taught digital fieldcraft. The smartphone should be treated as part of the modern operational environment. Digital discipline is now military discipline.