Thursday afternoon’s long expected announcement of retired Police AIG Nuhu Ribadu as the Special Adviser to the President in charge of national security has brought a sigh of relief in security, intelligence, political and many other circles in Nigeria.
Nuhu Ribadu brings to the role a rich resume and a deep knowledge of legal, security, anti-corruption and lately political work. A trained lawyer who cut his teeth in the Police Legal Department, he became best known in Nigeria as the founding chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Under his pioneering and very dynamic leadership, EFCC quickly became one of the most effective and most fearsome agencies in Nigeria. Fearsome, that is, to money launderers and other economic criminals. Since he left the police, he has also played important roles in politics, including as ACN presidential candidate in 2011. He is also known to be one of the men closest to President Tinubu politically and personally.
Economic crimes are some of the most challenging security situations in modern Nigeria, widespread and rapidly evolving through the manipulation of technology, with the potential to bring the country to its knees by wrecking its national economy. Ribadu is suitably placed to deal with this threat.
Other major items on his plate will be terrorism in its various manifestations across the country, banditry, kidnapping, highway robbery, criminal attack on key national infrastructure such as oil pipelines and electrical facilities, oil theft, high seas piracy as well as cross-border crimes and violent secessionist agitation. Tackling this myriad of problems requires cooperation among security agencies on a greater level than heretofore. President Bola Tinubu said at his first meeting with security and military chiefs last week that he will not tolerate inter-agency in-fighting.
Ribadu has the experience and the temperament to bring all the various security agencies in line for maximum cooperation in order to defeat the country’s many internal security challenges. Tackling internal insecurity is one of the most challenging tasks in Nigeria right now. It must be accomplished before the country can record successes in other areas of economic growth and development of key infrastructure, not to mention in key social sectors such as education and health. Here is wishing Malam Nuhu Ribadu success in his challenging new position of National Security Adviser.
Ebere is head of the Institute of Strategic and Security Research, Lagos
