ISMAIL ABDULLAHI FROM THE SUN NIGERIA
The struggle to liberate Nigeria from the shackles of incessant insecurity challenges has never been so evident. The country has had a lot to grapple with in terms of security since 1999, to say the least.
Each successive government has made efforts to stem the tide of insecurity, even when our country had the opportunity of retired military men at the helm of the country, each of these retired military-turned-democratic Presidents couldn’t make so much difference either because of their choice of individuals appointed to manage our security apparatus, including the National Security Adviser (NSA), or the appointment as a product of political patronage.
The appointment of the National Security Adviser, even in more advanced nations, is critical to the extent that a President looks up to the occupant for informed, timely and intelligence-driven advise to guide the President in taking informed decisions in the security management of the country.
The NSA is expected to be the rallying and coordinating point of all security agencies and management in the country. Therefore, the office is expected to be manned by someone who enjoys and commands control and respect in the security network of our country and beyond.
The office must be devoid of any other considerations, except competence, loyalty and patriotism.
The news on the grapevine of a proposed appointment of the erstwhile chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, as the next NSA, if so happens, would mean that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is starting on a weak footing in terms of addressing the security challenges ravaging the country.
The President needs individuals with strong character that can give his government biting teeth to frontally address the humongous security challenges facing our country.
It would mean and seem that Ribadu’s appointment is compensation, where as competence should be the sole consideration for appointing the occupant of such an exalted and critical office.
Mr. President should not use that position as political patronage. The NSA’s office should be occupied by a technocrat and not a politician.
For Ribadu, a retired police officer, we are witnesses to how he managed the EFCC under his leadership where he turned the commission to an attack dog of the government of the time and used his privilege to hunt down political opponents.
If in the thinking of Tinubu a trained retired police officer is desirable for the office of the NSA, he should look among some of the retired Inspectors-General of Police who had fantastic track records and would enjoy maximum cooperation, support and respect from other security agencies. He must not lose sight of the age-long rivalries among them.
The choice of who leads and occupies the top offices of our security agencies is a critical one and the expectations of Nigerians is that they must be individuals with requisite experience and competence; the appointment should be devoid of any political coloration.
Ribadu, it would be recalled, left the Nigeria Police for the EFCC as an Assistant Commissioner of Police and all he did was to investigate financial and economic crimes until his retirement. He does not in any way fit into the character or colour of someone who would give Tinubu’s government that desired impetus needed in the Office of National Security Adviser.
The President has been getting it right in his appointments so far, but appointing Ribadu will score him low even in the face of the international community.
•Abdullahi wrote from Kano
