By Ernest Osogbue
The recent appointment of General Chris Musa as Minister of Defense, has generated a buzz of excitement and expectations amongst Nigerians. This follows the recent, sudden resignation of Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, the former governor of Jigawa State, from the position on health grounds. The excitement over General Musa’s appointment emanates from the fact that most Nigerians were never comfortable with the former Jigawa State governor in that position. The same thing could be said of his counterpart minister of state, Bello Matawalle, the former governor of Zamfara State. To most Nigerians, their appointments to the positions by President Tinubu, was more a matter of political patronage than due to their competence in security and defense matters.
While in office as governors a few years ago, neither of them had demonstrated a competence in military matters or strategic thinking in the battle against banditry and terrorism. Nigerians therefore, rightly continued to question the reasons behind their appointments into such strategic positions, at a time when the country was practically under siege by bandits, terrorists, kidnappers, and other criminal elements. Another probable reason for the buzz over Musa’s appointment, according to observers, is that between October 24th 2025, when General Musa retired from the army, and until his nomination on 2nd December 2025, a period of roughly six weeks, banditry and insurgency which seemed to have been contained, suddenly reared their ugly heads again, with several tragic incidents taking place within a matter of days.
For instance, it was soon after General Musa’s retirement, that on November 1st 2025, US president Donald Trump, designated Nigeria as a country of particular concern, CPC, following reports of Christian genocide in the country. As the debate on the label was raging, kidnapping incidents of students from their schools, which had somewhat witnessed a lull in recent times, resurfaced. Worshippers were equally kidnapped from a Christian place of worship, with several reported incidents of killings across the country. These incidents heightened the already volatile security situation in the country, and strained the usually cordial US-Nigeria relations to near breaking point. Their manifestation soon after Musa’s retirement, rightly or wrongly created the impression that Musa’s presence as Chief of Defence Staff, had been responsible for the perceived lull in banditry and insurgency in recent months.
A quickfire diplomatic shuttle by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, coupled with the right noises made by senior government officials and influential Christian clergy, helped avert in the immediate, what could have been a swift ‘guns ablazing’ attack by US forces on Nigerian soil, as promised by President Trump. The NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, has since been named by President Tinubu, as the leader of the Nigerian leg of the US-Nigeria joint working group, as part of efforts to combat the menace of terrorists and bandits, who have been on a killing spree in Nigeria for many years now.
Following the above incidents, General Chris Musa, is now seen as someone with the magic wand to keep bandits and insurgents at bay. While his sudden retirement, as Chief of Defence Staff, following rumors of a coup plot, had been presented as a disgrace from office, General Musa has suddenly become a much sought after hero, following the activities of terrorists in his short absence from the military. His appointment has suddenly restored hope, and also helped to douse the tension in the country to a large extent. While thoughts of a US invasion of Nigeria, are still palpable, they have, however, receeded from the front to the back of our minds. The NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, has also brought the good news that Nigeria is now receiving the much needed assistance from the US, UK, and France, in the fight against insurgency and terrorism.
As we celebrate these gains, especially the appointment of General Chris Musa as Minister of Defense, it has become pertinent to sound a note of caution. There’s heightened expectations that General Musa, with his military background and knack for operational strategic thinking, would simply wave his magic wand as defense minister, and all our security troubles would disappear. This remains to be seen. As it stands, however, General Musa rose to the highest office in the Nigerian military, it is also pertinent to note that six weeks of retirement may not have been enough to completely demilitarize the man. It means, therefore, that he is still a military officer in bearing, attitude, and in action. This is where caution becomes necessary. In the US, for instance, section 3326 of United States Code Title 5, places a retired member of the United States armed forces, on a 180 day Restriction from a Department of Defense Employment. This means that a retired member of the US military, must spend at least six months after retirement before being appointed into a civilian position.
This is to among other things, enable the officer demilitarize mentally, physically, and emotionally. This is not so in Nigeria, and as a result, General Musa, has been appointed into a civilian office after only 6 weeks of retirement. The challenge, therefore, is not so much about his military prowess, but about his adaptability to civilian life. He is no longer a soldier who gives orders and follows a chain of command. He now occupies a civilian position, and must now work with civil servants, who are not used to obeying orders and doing things with alacrity.
Civil servants shilly shally over assignments, files take ages to move from point to point, and decisions made, take days and sometimes weeks or even months before being implemented. The question then is, does General Chris Musa, have the patience to deal with these civilian attitudinal lapses? How would he deal with senior civil servants like permanent secretaries, directors, deputy directors, etc? Will he bark orders at them as he is wont to do in the military? How would senior government officials respond if and when General Musa barks at them, or exhibits his impatience at the slow pace of work? Will he be accepted by them? Will they want to teach him a lesson, by sabotaging his efforts, in order to prove to him that he is an outsider and out of his depth? How would he fare at the Federal Executive Council meeting, FEC, and relate with other civilian ministers, whose support he may require in order to succeed? Most importantly, will General Musa understand that diplomacy, patience, and gentle persuasion are ingredients of success in the civil service as opposed to the military? All these questions will be answered in the days, months, and possibly, years ahead, as General Musa, settles into what is generally believed to be a high pressure office.
As we welcome our supposedly, all conquering General to a senior civilian position, we pray for him to be imbued with the patience to handle the snail pace of work, and sometimes, the irritating attitude of ‘civilians.’ We hope that he will be able to adapt quickly to civilian ways, and succeed in the onerous assignment that he has been saddled with. General Musa’s success is our success, and our success is the success of Nigeria. We wish General Chris Gwabim Musa, Godspeed!
