Since his appointment by President Bola Tinubu as the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has silenced initial critics who questioned his choice of being Nigeria’s first NSA from a non-military background since 1999. In line with the security component of the Renewed Hope Agenda, Ribadu delved immediately into addressing three important national security threats – terrorism and violent extremism, oil theft, and secessionist agitation.
While leading a presidential delegation to inspect oil and gas facilities in Abia and Rivers in August, Ribadu decried how the country was still losing 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to local and international thieves. He said part of the strategy the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was deploying to address the issue was collaboration.
The NSA said during the inspection: “We are working hard with the security forces and those employed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to secure our facilities and end this madness called oil theft.” He demonstrated a deep understanding of the fact that protecting Nigeria’s critical infrastructure and safeguarding its sources of revenue are important elements of its national security.
By November, at the Chief of Defence Intelligence Annual Conference 2023, Ribadu confirmed that there was renewed synergy among the services in dealing with the threats and that the synergy has led to successes in ongoing operations. He mentioned that the improved security in the Niger Delta region had led to an increase in oil production from 900,000 barrels per day about a year ago, to about 1.7 million barrels per day presently.
He commended the Armed Forces of Nigeria for the successes being recorded in the ongoing fight against insecurity across the country, saying many things have changed since the appointment of the current team of leaders in the security sector.
“They have done an amazingly good job without talking and I believe that with the support and the resolve of the leadership we have today in our country, things will only be better. We are just four or five months old, but certainly things have changed and we believe that what they are doing, they are doing it right,” he said.
The NSA reminded the audience that attacks on both oil installations in the South-South and police formations in the South East have reduced drastically in recent times due to the commitment of the military, while insurgency-related deaths have also reduced in the North East and North West.
Valuing the importance of bilateral and multilateral cooperation in tackling Nigeria’s security challenges, ONSA under Ribadu and on behalf of the Nigerian government signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) to further strengthen counter-terrorism efforts in the country. Both parties also pledged continued collaboration to identify, collect, and disseminate good practices and lessons learned, and explore new opportunities by promoting dialogue and partnership through capacity-building activities.
To further demonstrate his firm commitment to collaboration, the NSA met with the then United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, to explore the UK-Nigeria Security and Defence Partnership. The meeting focused on sharing experience in tackling domestic and international security threats. “Together, we’re committed to boosting bilateral cooperation and strengthening partnerships in the fight against terrorism and other local and international security threats,” the NSA said.
He also chaired discussions at the Ministerial-Level Meeting of African Member States on Counter-Terrorism convened by ONSA & UNOCT during the 78th United Nations General Assembly, where he spoke on “Strengthening regional cooperation against terrorism”. He expressed Nigeria’s commitment to forging stronger ties in the fight against terrorism. He emphasised that regional and global cooperation were vital to building institutions to combat evolving threats and safeguarding peace and stability across Africa.
Speaking during the 19th Annual Nigerian Editors Conference (ANEC) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Ribadu admitted that although the current administration inherited a tough period, frantic efforts are being made to address the challenges faced. He explained that militancy in the Niger Delta and insecurity in the South East has reduced since Tinubu’s administration came on board, adding that it will get better.
“We have witnessed three weeks without any incident of security challenges in the Niger Delta. This is the first time since 1993, but we don’t talk. In the South East, when we took over last year, we had 46 police stations attacked, today we don’t have one single one. In the last two months, not a single person had been killed through violent attacks in the Southeast, we don’t talk. The leadership we have in our country does understand things a bit better. Work more, talk less,” he stated.
A keen observation of the NSA also reveals his determination to positively impact two of his formal constituencies – the Nigeria Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). For instance, on October 31, 2023, President Tinubu, as chair of the Nigeria Police Council (NPC), set up a constitutional review committee to carry out comprehensive police reforms. The committee, among other tasks, was charged to assess the lapses in the 1999 Constitution that are holding back reforms of the Nigeria Police Force as well as enhance coordination and align technology and manpower resources towards strengthening the police.
Members of the committee are the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; the Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Geidam; Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Solomon Arase; and the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Governor AbdulRahman AdbulRazaq. ONSA also entered into a collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the German Embassy in Nigeria for a comprehensive police reform initiative. The NSA said the agreement reached by the three institutions would support the work of the Special Committee of Police Reform and reiterated President Tinubu’s commitment to leading a comprehensive police reform process “anchored on trust, human rights, rule of law and efficient public service”.
It is hard not to acknowledge the passion and dedication with which the NSA is pursuing police reform on behalf of the present administration. As a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, it is not difficult to see why there are few people more determined and suited for the job of delivering on reforming the police.
At the commissioning of its new Enugu Zonal Command office, the NSA urged EFCC to take a front row in the effort to check the laundering of proceeds of violent crimes like terrorism, kidnapping, and banditry. He called on other security agencies to collaborate with the EFCC in achieving its mandate and acknowledged the modest contributions of the commission in checking illicit financial flows, especially in the Designated Non-Financial Sector, (DNFS), through the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, (SCUML) adding that there is still room for improvement.
As the Co-Chair of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, the NSA met with critical stakeholders before the November 11 off-cycle governorship elections in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa states and warned against violence by political actors and charged security agencies to adhere to the professional code of ethics during the conduct of the exercise.
Mindful of the correlation between economic security and overall national security, the NSA made a vital intervention when his meeting with organised labour led to the suspension of its nationwide strike, which commenced on November 14, 2023.
Ribadu’s “united front” approach to national security has been commended by many, with the hope that he continues with the same vigour in 2024.
By Kayode Adebiyi