But then again, we’ve had people like him in the past whose desire to do the right thing and change the situation of the country was kneecapped by vicious vested interests and deep-seated systemic issues
On Monday, the presidency announced that the Minister of Defence, Mohammad Badaru Abubakar, had stepped down from his position. His resignation came amid a surge in security crises, occasioned by renewed waves of banditry, large-scale abductions, and violent attacks across several northern states. His resignation did not come as a surprise to many, given the fact that his ministerial appointment in the first place, like many of President Bola Tinubu’s appointments, was rooted in politics rather than merit and capacity to occupy such a critical and sensitive position. His exit has been attributed to ill-health. The usual refrain of the Tinubu government when it needs a plausible excuse to justify the dismissal of top appointees.
Suppose the appointment of Badaru as the defence minister leaves so much to be desired. In that case, the appointment of Bello Matawalle, the former governor of Zamfara State, is as uninspiring as it is troubling. Only a mind that sees the security of lives and properties as an afterthought or even inconsequential will staff an important ministry like the Defence Ministry with the duo of Badaru and Matawalle, whose performance as governors in their respective states is disgracefully underwhelming and shockingly abysmal.
During Matawalle’s time as the governor of Zamfara, insecurity spiked aggressively in the northwestern state as bandits and terrorists unleashed terror on unarmed and hapless villagers in the state with reckless abandon. He was said to be chummy and cosy with terrorists and bandits to the extent that he sheltered them in government. Aside from Matawalle’s seeming failure in ensuring the protection of the lives and properties of those in Zamfara when he held sway there, he has also been indicted for massive misappropriation and embezzlement of the state funds. He has a pending N70 billion corruption case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The antecedents of the duo and their record as governors, coupled with a palpable lack of experience in security and defence roles, created a lacuna in the ministry, which, to a great extent, hampered the effort to tackle the insecurity in the nation head-on. But all this is about to change. On Tuesday, President Tinubu nominated the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, as the new Defence Minister. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday. Musa now has the power to fully manage and control the nation’s security architecture, something he did not have when he was the CDS. While he was CDS he had to report to Badaru and Matawalle which meant that whatever grand plan and lofty idea he had on how to tackle the nation’s perennial insecurity had to undergo the scrutiny and approval of Badaru and Matawalle who are clearly not trained in any aspect of security and defence and also have a political agenda. In the end, they became an albatross to genuine efforts to tackle insecurity as it is seen in their aggressive push for a kinetic approach, which has proven ineffective and has only emboldened terrorists and other criminal elements wreaking havoc in the nation.
However, with his confirmation as the substantive defence minister, Musa has the mandate and authority to design and implement a strategy without many political hurdles. As the CDS, even though he was the highest-ranking military officer, he did not have the power to unilaterally execute security plans and military campaigns because he had to report to a civilian authority. He was shackled by the political chain that he was tethered to. As the CDS, he was constrained by politics, he was handcuffed by bureaucracy and he was limited by entrenched systemic rot and dysfunction that no amount of field experience can navigate and overcome.
He will no longer have to deal with these man-made challenges and conundrums as the Minister of Defence. He is now the political head of the Ministry, giving him power to carve Nigeria’s security agenda in his own image without having to deal with perverse elements and a compromised system. He can design policies, budgets, procurement priorities, and strategic direction in a manner that aligns with his set goals and objectives. He can also pick his own team whose ideology and mindset are in tandem with his security agenda and then weed out compromising and regressive characters that have infiltrated the ministry. He now has control over the brutal and debilitating politics that undermine his role as the CDS and can aggressively embark on a wholesale reconfiguration of the ministry to give it a new vista.
Musa’s appointment has been widely hailed by many Nigerians, including staunch critics of the current administration. He is the proverbial round peg in a round hole and one of the few instances where President Tinubu had ditched politics and chauvinism for competence and merit. One cannot help but hope that his military experience and the enormous political leverage the ministry will afford will translate to a profound and far-reaching positive impact on Nigeria’s overall security because when it comes to addressing Nigeria’s challenges, things are not always as they seem and it is more often than not the case that the more you look the less you see.
He sounds competent and comes across as one who is genuinely troubled by the nation’s security predicaments. But then again, we’ve had people like him in the past whose desire to do the right thing and change the situation of the country was kneecapped by vicious vested interests and deep-seated systemic issues. Musa may have the needed experience, competence and willpower to return peace, sanity and stability to the country if given the resources, freedom and backing he needs but the Nigerian political elites must first share his energy, passion and intention. They must tell themselves the truth. They must stop playing with the lives of ordinary Nigerians, end the needless politicking and game of deception, stop acting only in response to external pressure – and actually address this problem. They must create a condition where national interest is not supplanted by personal agenda and tribal considerations. It is under this condition that Musa can thrive and succeed and expectations from Musa can be met.