Last Wednesday, when President Bola Tinubu constituted his cabinet, he appointed the immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, the Minister of State for Defence.
Mr Matawalle’s appointment has, however, raised a few eyebrows. During Mr Matawalle’s four-year tenure in Zamfara, the state was undoubtedly the most insecure in the country. During the period, terror gangs, locally called bandits, held sway across the state attacking communities, killing thousands of people, and abducting many more others in perhaps the largest kidnapping-for-ransom franchise in the history of the country.
Though banditry, as the activities of these outlaws are described by the Nigerian media and by politicians, was rampant across the county’s North-west region, their activities in Zamfara State during the governorship of Mr Matawalle, who was the chief security officer of the state, were unparalleled.
Though as governor Mr Matawalle has no direct control over security…