There are speculations the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, may be named the nation’s new Defence Mminister after Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, resigned from the office, citing health challenges that require him to step away from public office. Musa was spotted in the nation’s seat of power, Aso Villa, in a meeting with President Tinubu hours preceeding Badaru’s resignation.
In a letter dated December 1 to President Bola Tinubu, Abubakar stated that he could no longer continue in his role due to medical considerations. President Tinubu accepted the resignation and expressed gratitude for his service, according to a State House statement issued by Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga. The president is expected to notify the Senate of a replacement later this week.
Though his resignation formally rests on health grounds, it follows a period of heightened scrutiny after several comments he made on bandits and terrorists drew public criticism.
In a BBC Hausa interview, Abubakar said the military often knows the locations of bandit hideouts but must exercise caution to avoid civilian casualties — a remark interpreted by some Nigerians as an admission of inadequate action.
He also characterised ongoing attacks as “guerrilla warfare,” and earlier in the year dismissed claims that terrorists were better armed than the military, insisting their drones were improvised and unsophisticated. These statements, made against the backdrop of rising insecurity, led to debates over his leadership approach.
Abubakar, 63, was a two-term governor of Jigawa State before being appointed Defence Minister on August 21, 2023. His departure coincides with President Tinubu’s declaration of a national security emergency, with further announcements expected soon.
While the presidency maintains that the minister stepped down for health-related reasons, his exit nonetheless marks a significant shift in the administration’s security team at a critical time.
The Punch Editorial that captured the mood of critics across the country, reads in full:
Momammed Badaru Abubakar, the Minister of Defence, stands exposed as hopelessly confused and utterly unfit to lead the Defence Ministry, which oversees Nigeria’s military.
His recent BBC Hausa Service interview laid bare glaring deficiencies in addressing security challenges, dropping a shocking gaffe: the Nigerian Air Force cannot rout forest-hiding terrorists because some hideouts are too thick for bombs to penetrate.
He said: “In this kind of war, from time to time, there will be relief; sometimes they will do something that will shock everyone on the ground, although I have heard some say that their whereabouts are known and who they are.
“It is true that their whereabouts are known, but they are people you cannot attack, or they are in the forests where our bombs cannot reach them.
“I assure you that our soldiers are working day and night to see how they can deal with this.”
This is confusing, contradictory and self-deprecatory. His comments clearly betray his ignorance of the advances in the defence sector and embarrass the military.
For one, Northern Nigeria, plagued by abductions, kidnappings and killings for over 16 years, lacks dense foliage. It has a mix of savannah and woodlands, with Kainji Lake National Park, Borgu Game Reserve and even the notorious Sambisa Forest being the most notable, but they do not give total cover for terrorists.
Comments like this by a defence minister prove there is no determination to combat the Islamic insurgency and banditry. Rather, puerile excuses are being manufactured to justify failure.
Farmers are rounded up and slaughtered. The killers are in deep forests in the South. Worship centres and schools are raided, worshippers and students shot and abducted, but the killers are supposedly inaccessible!
Some communities are empty, yet the assailants are never apprehended because their location is too inaccessible or they cannot be attacked!
The terrorists have massacred over 100,000 Nigerians, says Vice-President, Kashim Shettima, while over two million are displaced.
Where is surveillance in all this? What is the intel community doing? This monster, once born in a small community in Borno State in 2009, is now everywhere.
Badaru and his ilk in government have no more lies to tell. From being on “top of the situation,” to the “matter being blown out of proportion,” to “the terrorists being degraded,” now it is the terrorists are deep in the forest that bombs cannot reach them!
Truth be told, Badaru is not fit to be the defence minister. His view implies that Nigeria will permanently be at the mercy of bandits. That is unacceptable.
The government exists to protect citizens, not insult them with lame justifications.
Unfortunately, a new wave of persistent attacks began shortly after Donald Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as “Country of Particular Concern” in October, exposing the country’s poor attention to insecurity before the tag.
What is the strategy for returning students to school safely? This is the period of action, not excuses and rhetoric.
The National Security Adviser and the Service Chiefs should take the battle to the terrorists. Badaru cannot lead this charge as his deficiencies have been so publicly exposed.
The President should immediately replace Badaru and his deputy, Bello Matawalle, who has been accused by Dauda Lawal, his successor as Zamfara governor, of feting bandits in the Government House and buying vehicles for the likes of Bello Turji during his tenure, though he denies this.
The US eliminated Osama bin Laden in his seemingly impregnable fortress in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011 after 10 years of relentless intelligence activity.
America has long developed bombs that penetrate concrete bunkers, as shown by the country’s attack on Iranian nuclear sites earlier this year. There are fuel-air explosives for clearing forests, and heat signature sensors to detect human presence where eyes cannot see.
So, Nigeria needs to seek help from countries that have the technology to penetrate anywhere.
Intelligence is the way to check guerrilla warfare; bust their plans before they strike. Technology can make them answerable if they do.
The minister’s pitiable comments are defeatist at best and demoralising to troops on the frontline.
Badaru must resign or be fired. President Bola Tinubu cannot afford to sacrifice national security on the altar of political patronage.
It helps if a defence minister has a military background. This should be considered in making new appointments.
