I watched with keen interest the confrontation between Mr. Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, and a young military officer on Tuesday, 11 November, 2025 a scene that ended with the officer standing his ground and forcing the Minister and his entourage to turn back from a property he was guarding.
Despite the Minister’s haughtiness and resort to argumentum ad hominem, the soldier remained calm and unruffled, replying in a firm, controlled voice that betrayed no emotion.
“I am an officer with integrity,” he told the Minister, leaving no room for negotiation.
And when Wike pressed further, the soldier made his position even clearer:
“I have an order!”
That final statement brought back memories of a story our teacher, Uncle Dave Nyekwere, told us more than forty years ago, the story of the Duke of Wellington, the British general who defeated the great Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.
As we were taught, Waterloo; the name of a city in Belgium has come to mean a final, crushing defeat. It was there, on June 18, 1815, that the Duke of Wellington dealt Napoleon his last and greatest blow. But that was not the end of the story.
Basking in his triumph, the Duke went about Europe with his head held high until one day, a little boy keeping watch over his father’s farm gave him a taste of defeat.
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The story went like this:
One bright morning, the great Duke of Wellington went out with his men. He wanted to cross a farm path that would make his journey shorter. But a little country lad stood firm at the gate, refusing to open it.
“Make way, boy!” cried the Duke in his firm soldier’s voice.
The boy looked up but did not stir. His cap was in his hand, his feet were bare, and his eyes shone clear and steady.
“Do you know who I am?” thundered the Duke. “I am the Duke of Wellington who beat Napoleon at Waterloo!”
The lad answered quietly, “Would the Duke of Wellington ask a boy to disobey instructions?”
The Duke checked his horse and stared.
“Your duty?” he asked.
“Yes, sir,” said the lad. “My father set me here to guard this gate until he returns.”
For a moment there was silence. Then the stern lines of the Duke’s face softened. He lifted his hat and said with a smile, “You are right, my boy. Always do your duty.”
With that, the great soldier turned his horse aside and rode another way with his men.
The boy then ran to his father shouting, “Father! Father! I have done what Napoleon could not do!”
And so it became a saying. The Duke would later recount the story, saying,
“I once met a soldier who never wore a uniform; the little boy who would not leave his post.”
Yes, Napoleon could not turn back the Duke of Wellington but that young boy did, simply by standing on instruction and integrity.
That, in essence, is what happened between Wike and the young military officer. The Wike I know would reflect on the guts of that soldier and, perhaps, try to reach back to him.
Wike has penetrated the barriers of politicians and political parties, of the judiciary and the police, of the Independent National Electoral Commission, civil servants, legislators, and even the Presidency. But on this day, a young officer stood between him and his destination and said simply, “I am an officer. I have integrity!”
Integrity; the very thing all those who yielded to Wike failed to stand on.
Could this be the beginning of the demystification of Wike?
…Emmanuel Obe is a veteran journalist, he writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
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