Research Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Professor Femi Otubanjo, has described President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of a Special Adviser on Homeland Security as an admission of failure in the administration’s handling of security.
Speaking in an interview on ARISE News on Thursday, Otubanjo said the appointment of Major General Adeyinka Famadewa reflected deeper structural problems within Nigeria’s security management framework.
“There’s no doubt that the appointment of Adeyinka Famadewa is a statement or an admission of failure,” he said.
Otubanjo argued that the federal government should have considered establishing a Homeland Security Bureau or Directorate instead of appointing another adviser.
“We should not be looking for a Homeland Security Advisor, we should be looking for a Homeland Security Bureau or Directorate,” he said.
“An advisor is a personal staff of the president. It is a coordinating office, not an administrative office.”
He also questioned the current structure of the National Security Adviser’s office, saying the arrangement had created tension within the country’s security architecture.
“Because of the misappropriation of territory, of jurisdiction in the presidency, the National Security Advisor is operating as if he is the head of all security organisations in the country, which is not the case,” he said.
Otubanjo further criticised the appointment of Nuhu Ribadu as National Security Adviser, saying the military would resist supervision by a police officer.
“I learned from my experience in Aso Rock as a Special Advisor that the military will not accept supervision of policemen or any other paramilitary officer,” he stated.
“So, by making good, bad, and looking to appropriate all those coordinations of services, you already created tension, which will undermine the effectiveness of your contacts, insurgency, and security administration efforts.”
The professor maintained that insecurity remained one of the Tinubu administration’s major failures.
“The problem is that we have not managed the security work in Nigeria,” he said.
“So if the Tinubu administration is honest to itself, that is one area of failure.”
Otubanjo also dismissed arguments that Nigeria required a localised definition of national security before solving its security challenges.
“When armed robbers come to your house, whether it’s in Morocco, or in VGC, or Banana Island, armed robbery is armed robbery,” he said.
“So national security is not localised. It’s not a regional, it’s not a national concept. It’s a general concept that talks about the absence or the violation of peace and stability in the country.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
