Mr. Matthew Ibadin, a doctoral researcher at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) and University of Abuja, gave the warning last Monday while delivering a lecture on “Emotional Discipline Under Pressure and Anger Management for Staff Officers” to participants of Senior Course 48 at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC), Jaji.
The lecture had in attendance 436 officers drawn from the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force and officers from eight friendly nations.Describing anger as “a temporary madness that leaves a permanent record,” Ibadin told the senior officers that “the line between a respected officer and an inmate is thinner than you can imagine.”
“Anger may enter the room, but must never take command,” he charged.
Ibadin illustrated his point with what he called The Lion Principle, noting that while both male and female lions roar, the female roars only when necessary and lives 15-18 years compared to 10-12 years for the male.
“She lives longer not because she is weaker, but because she is more disciplined.Many of us have become male lions in uniform fighting juniors, spouses, traffic, minor disagreements even when no real threat exists. That constant agitation slowly destroys what you have built,” he said.
Ibadin illustrated his point with what he called The Lion Principle, noting that while both male and female lions roar, the female roars only when necessary and lives 15-18 years compared to 10-12 years for the male.
“She lives longer not because she is weaker, but because she is more disciplined. Many of us have become male lions in uniform fighting juniors, spouses, traffic, minor disagreements even when no real threat exists. That constant agitation slowly destroys what you have built,” he said.
He therefore charged the officers to “be a female lion in strategy and a male lion only when tactically necessary.”
The security expert identified five battlefields where undisciplined anger destroys officers: Health, Home Front, Office and Command, Career and Prison, and Relationships.
On home front, he warned: “At Jaji your rank commands respect, but at home your rank is irrelevant.If you win at the office and lose at home, you have lost. An officer whose home is under emotional fire cannot think clearly at the command post.”
On career and command, he cautioned that signatures appended in anger to operational orders, procurement papers and personnel assessments could lead to Boards of Inquiry, career ruin and mission failure. He added that 70 percent of inmates in correctional centres for murder never planned to kill, but acted in a moment of unmanaged anger.
To manage pressure, Ibadin introduced practical tools including the 90-Second Rule and the S.T.O.P Protocol Stop, Take a Breath (4-4-4), Observe, and Proceed with Discipline.
He adopted Aristotle’s five tests for disciplining anger: Right Person, Right Reason, Right Time, Right Degree, and Right Manner.