A senator has called on President Bola Tinubu to overhaul Nigeria’s national security leadership by replacing the current Nuhu Ribadu as National Security Adviser (NSA) with a retired military officer.
The call came from Francis Fadahunsi, who represents Osun East in the Senate. In a statement, Fadahunsi argued that Ribadu a former police officer should be redeployed to a different role “where his competence would be better utilised.”
Fadahunsi pointed out what he characterised as a lack of military representation at the top of the country’s defence architecture: he noted that neither the Minister of Defence nor other senior positions are held by former military officers, and that the NSA is a retired policeman. “Soldiers call us even those carrying superior guns than theirs ‘bloody civilians’,” the senator said, describing this attitude as detrimental to effective command.
The senator welcomed the recent resignation of the former Defence Minister, Mohammed Badaru, and the nomination of retired General Christopher Musa as Defence Minister-designate, describing that as a step in the right direction. But he argued that Tinubu should go further and ensure that the NSA post also goes to someone with a military background especially given the urgent need to coordinate efforts against banditry, insurgency, and violent crime nationwide.
According to Fadahunsi, replacing Ribadu with an ex-military officer would lead to stronger coordination and more respect within the security forces. He warned that without such changes, “we will continue to waste money because they will not take orders from any other person other than their own general.”
