PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, removed Gen. Andrew Owoye Azazi as the National Security Adviser (NSA). In his place, he named Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.) as the new NSA.
The Minister of Defence, Bello Haliru Mohammed was also dropped. But as at press time, no replacement had been named.
According to Presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, changes came after the National Security Council meeting presided over by Jonathan.
Others who attended the meeting include Vice President Namadi Sambo, Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin; Chief of Army Staff, General Onyeabo Azubuike Ihejirika; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar and Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar.
Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Caleb Olubolade told journalists after the meeting, which ended late in the evening that the president expressed his displeasure with the security situation in the country.
Olubolade said: “He (Jonathan) particularly didn’t feel too well about the loss of lives. He said that we needed to do something proactively to stop it at all cost.”
There was nothing extraordinary about the meeting, he said, stating that, “It is a usual security meeting with the President looking at things in a comprehensive manner and seeing how the security agencies are faring. It was a useful discussion on certain areas where we had problems, how to tackle them, how the security agencies can be more effective and the role the populace has to play in assisting in the war against terror.
“We had to reappraise the other measures we had been taking before now and look at how Nigerians can be carried along to get more information so that peace can return to the land. We do not really have to kill Nigerians to sustain peace. The C-in-C believes that we need to talk and do what is right to ensure that we calm the nerves and make sure that this incessant bombing are minimised. It is a source of worry to all.”
The new National Security Adviser, retired Col. Sambo Mohammed Dasuki, comes from the royal family of Sokoto: He is the son of the former Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmed Dasuki, who was deposed by the military regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha.
Believed to be close to former dictator Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Abacha dismissed Dasuki and some military officers in 1993. Dasuki’s closeness to Babangida was said to have come about from the fact that he was once the dictator’s ADC, and he was actively involved in the 1985 coup that brought Babangida to power.
Dasuki later fled to the United States in 1995 after he was accused by the Abacha regime of being a party to a coup plot allegedly led by retired Col. Lawan Gwadabe.
On his return, former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as the managing director of the National Security and Printing Company at the behest of Babangida.
WITH days to his promised end of June restoration of normalcy, President Goodluck Jonathan sacked General Andrew Owoye Azazi, National Security Adviser and Mohammed Haliru Bello, Minister of Defence.
Harsh criticisms had attended the President’s trip to Brazil for the Earth Summit, while Kaduna and Yobe were in flames after series ofbombing attacks. Defences of the President’s trip collapsed on all sides. On his return, he had to act.
The choice of Mohammed Sambo Dasuki, a retired colonel, former ADC to President Ibrahim Babangida and a scion of the Sokoto Caliphate appears more political than all sides have been willing to admit.
Dasuki had security training in America, but that would not be as important as the influences he would wield in the North, or the personal injuries that General Muhammadu Buhari would feel at the appointment of one of those, who arrested him when he was overthrown in 1985.
Nigerians are more interested in restoration of security in all parts of the country than in who holds which positions though there are vast implications in the country being in turmoil, if occupants of certain positions are from some sections of the country.
The smart thing about Dasuki’s appointment is that it has placed the security challenges in the hands of someone, who has the family, religious, and security links to talk to the North about the importance of peace to collective progress.
How Dasuki sets out on his mission and whether his appointment will stop the bombings and killings are matters that would be obvious in the next few weeks.
Critics of his choice are many. They think that his links to General Babangida and his frosty relationship with General Buhari could create another problem while solving one. Whatever happens, the President still has responsibility for the decision. Some are even wondering why it took him so long.
The excuse that his visit to Brazil afforded him an opportunity to appreciate how Nigeria’s security challenges scared foreign investors is at best puerile. Most foreign investors would rate challenges with electricity (infrastructure in general) and policy inconsistences above security.
It is sadder if the President was concerned about security because it would improve investments. It creates an impression of a President to whom lives mean nothing. The bloodbath has been going on for more than a year, stopping it would have been the priority of the President.
Azazi’s job was on the line since he stated last April that the choice of the President contrary to the Peoples Democratic Party’s zoning policy was a major cause of the security collapse. His sack was only delayed.
Nigerians await the Dasuki magic, and quickly too.
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