…writes Tom Garba
Despite being frustrated by some of the big wings from the north west, the cabals who say “let’s see how he does it.” Those who are against peaceful coexistence, and those fighting Mallam Nuhu Ribadu because he is from the north east, not north west, and because he has dismantled their lucrative insecurity ventures, which they use as a cash cow. But in all this frustration, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu came prepared and delivered the job in 18 months, achieving what took years and seemed impossible.
Nuhu Ribadu, who was highly recommended based on his past history as the man who always gets the job done, is a first non-military strategist who outmaneuvered the forces of insecurity, a peacemaker who worked in partnership so many patriotic security agents, individuals and brought stability to a region where the military had struggled.
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu’s trail of triumphs in tackling the security compromises he inherited has set him apart. It’s easy to see how his background as a specialized police officer, lawyer, and fearless investigator and prosecutor of financial crimes has eased him into the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in just one year in charge.
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu assumed the office of the National Security Advisor (NSA) at a time when kidnapping by unknown gunmen was rampant in the South East, with a high level of oil thefts, cultism in the South South, Fulani herders in the North Central with cases of clashes occurring daily, Boko Haram in the North East, and deadly bandits ravaging the North West with factions growing rapidly, as well as terrorist financing and money laundering, which underscored the criminal enterprises built by terrorists who had held the nation ransom.
All thanks to the experience of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the founding chief executive of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who understands that to get to the root of the security compromises, one must follow the money trail linked to these crimes against the state.
This approach is not surprising from a game-changer who, under his watch at the EFCC, recorded over 200 criminal convictions, making it the most respected anti-corruption agency in Nigeria’s history and a model for many governments around the world. Delivering a public lecture at the Combined Convocation Ceremony of Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto, in April, Ribadu explained the doctrine that has defined his approach to solving the nation’s multifaceted security crisis. He argued that the way forward is unorthodox.
The solution involves implementing a strategy that merges military, political, and socio-economic initiatives, emphasizing the need for cross-border cooperation, youth empowerment, and the reinforcement of local institutions. Achieving this requires inclusive dialogue, preventive measures, and regional support to ensure security and stability.
The perfect and wonderful doctrine outline has driven Ribadu’s engagements with regional and community stakeholders. For example, in the Niger Delta region, it has helped increase crude oil production by over 500,000 barrels per day. In the South-East, more than 40 police stations destroyed by criminals in recent years have been rebuilt and reactivated.
Additionally, the sit-at-home order by secessionist elements is now at its weakest, regularly ignored by residents who were once held hostage by it. The dreaded and fearful Abuja-Kaduna road, which seemed like a highway to a den of bandits and kidnappers, is now passable, as people travel on it daily without fear of being kidnapped. Ribadu has ensured improved operations through intelligence gathering and sharing, leading to targeted actions that have resulted in a deadly blow to bandits, with the most significant impact in one year since the banditry began, and high-profile leaders eliminated.
In the North-West, previously elusive bandit leaders have been decimated, with many others arrested. Abubakar Mainok, Haruna Isiya Boderi, and Kachallah Damina are among the ISWAP kingpins neutralized in clearance operations to secure the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, and the Turji faction is on the run in Scarborough after the killing of his son. In the North-Central region, the intensity of farmer-herder clashes has considerably reduced.
The North-East, which has long endured the ravages of Boko Haram terror, is now seeing not only stability but also efforts towards reconstruction and rehabilitation to restore its former glory, with people returning to their homes and farms.
President Bola Tinubu, desirous of achieving his goal of 2.06 million barrels of crude oil per day as stated in the 2025 budget, recognizes that there must be peace in the Niger Delta region, and to achieve this, the master strategist, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has been tasked with heading the reconciliation team in Ogoniland.
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is arguably not a typical political elite but an embodiment of love, peace, compassion, and vision, who is being loved by all and sundry for his personality as a beacon of transformational leadership. If you take a journey to Adamawa State and ask people on the street, they will give you the best definition of Ribadu’s persona, but he is being hated by a few individuals from the north who are in awe of his performance.
It has been barely two years since he assumed office, and the Nigerian government has successfully secured the release of over 6,000 hostages, neutralized over 9,500 terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers, and arrested more than 7,000 others. Large quantities of assorted weapons and ammunition have also been recovered.
The rapid responses to rescue operations, from the freeing of the Kuriga schoolchildren to the release of students abducted from the Federal University of Gusau, and the recent rescue of Kogi students coordinated by ONSA, will go down in history as defining moments of Ribadu’s first year as NSA.
To neutralize the economic threats to Nigeria’s sovereignty, Ribadu participated in operations to enforce action against the culprits, particularly Binance, a serial offender in several countries, in accordance with the nation’s laws. Pursuing offenders with links to trans-border terrorism is a familiar terrain for him, and he is aided by his distinguished international network and reputation. Ribadu has utilized his international networks to track trans-border terrorists and their financiers.
You can’t keep a good man down. Hate him or like him for whatever reason. He is just different, bend in making sure Nigeria and Nigerians are saved, protected and development take the centre stage of our country’s economy. Enough of this hatred by some disgruntled politicians who had their time and ended it in shame. These politicians have resorted to campaigns of calumny, hired merchants of hate speeches against the workaholic Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
It’s highly time for Nigerians to rise against these political bandits and brewers of disunity and anti progress of our dear nation using all forms of tactics to destroy the country’s image of their gullible interests of wanting to be in power at all times, emershing wealth to themselves and their generation. I call them to a table of unity, let them sit down and put their heads together, reason together and take a collective decision together for our sake and in the interest of everyone in Nigeria, else them leave Mallam Nuhu Ribadu be. Let him breath for once please.
Tom Garba, ANIPR, fspsp, FIMC, FBMC,msbn,plsc wrote this from Karji,Kaduna.
He can be reached through these means; 08030525759, tomgarba5@gmail.com
