Muhammadu Sambo Dasuki, a scion of the Fulani Sultanate of Sokoto, was until about
a week ago, when President Muhammadu Buhari relieved him of his job, the country’s
National Security Adviser (NSA). Sambo Dasuki, along with a motley crew of service
chiefs, like Marshal Alex Badeh and Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin, had shown a lack of
commitment to their respective duties and preference for political manoeuvre over and
above professionalism.

On the eve of Sallah, Sambo, fell victim of Nigeria’s version of secret police when DSS
operatives stormed his Aso Drive home, barricaded it, detained and seized his
international passport before releasing him. By their conduct, they had made the
former NSA an unlikely hero; no wonder the voluble Olisa Metuh got additional fodder
for propaganda. But Metuh’s glib talk means that he doesn’t appreciate the gravity of
the current situation.

Nigeria had committed huge amounts of money and materiel to the battle against
insurgency, more than N4 trillion in five years, yet the result we got was miserable.

Soldiers on the battlefield had consistently complained about inadequate equipment,
internal sabotage and abandonment by their commanders. The troops had no food and
their allowances were pocketed by their superiors. The previous government didn’t
want any mention of mercenaries in the North East battlefront neither did we know on
whose side the mercenaries fought, were they battling Boko Haram or slaying our
people?

Under Sambo’s watch, the war against Boko Haram was badly conducted and
thoroughly politicised. First, the government said insurgent attacks only occured in
opposition-controlled states and former Defence Minister, Labaran Maku, did his best
to repeat these lines; subsequently, last year, after calling for a security meeting with
all state governors, instead of a whole house, Jonathan decided to meet with PDP
governors first, before admitting those of the APC. Any wonder the security issue was
defined differently by different people depending on their political affiliations. On this
score, there was absence of unity of purpose.

In the middle of last year, 486 Northerners heading to Port Harcourt were detained in
Aba by the military on the basis that they were suspected Boko Haram fighters trying
to infiltrate the South East. They were herded together, men and women, into
detention camps for several weeks, with little or no food and in unsanitary conditions.

Under Sambo’s watch as National Security adviser, Northerners were continuously
profiled as Boko Haram fighters and a vicious campaign of calumny was unleashed on
our people.

On 22nd January, 2015, Sambo stunned the world when he travelled to Chatham
House, United Kingdom, and made the treasonable suggestion that Nigeria’s national
elections be pushed back by six weeks, ostensibly to make time to fight Boko Haram.

Political analysts have interpreted this as an attempt by Sambo to help Goodluck
Jonathan break the momentum of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and
hand the election to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In Sambo’s warped thinking, the
opposition would violently kick against the postponement and hand them opportunity
to detain Buhari, Tinubu and other APC leaders, remove Professor Jega and then
follow with a propaganda blitz on how the government uncovered plots to subvert
Nigeria’s “hard-earned democracy.”

It is also a matter of shame and crass partisanship that Colonel Bello-Fadile (rtd), one
of Dasuki’s assistants, functioned as PDP’s agent during the collation of the
presidential election results. Col Fadile, you would recall, piled pressure on the INEC
Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, to overturn some election results deemed
unfavourable to the ruling party in Southern Nigeria.

As the election fever enveloped the country, Sambo revelled in it. Sambo abandoned
his security brief and plunged into the murky waters of politics. He was determined to
deliver Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi to Jonathan at whatever price. Attahiru Bafarawa
was the point-man meant to buy the poor people of Sokoto and INEC officials in order
to return Jonathan to power so Sambo could continue as NSA. On the evening before
election, Sambo was in Birnin Kebbi to ensure that every bit of their deleterious
election stealing machine was revved up.

For being the National Security Adviser of a government that incorporated impunity
into its everyday conduct, Sambo is no hero. For abandoning professionalism and
delving into partisan politics, Sambo has lost respect and admiration. For implementing
faulty anti-terrorism measures, Sambo is a failure. Sambo understands what’s
happening to him; he knows that he has to account for trillions of naira voted for
arms, training and welfare of the Nigerian Army as well as the scandalous export of
millions of dollars in physical cash to South Africa, using Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s
plane, in brazen violation of international laws.

Sambo Dasuki was being hilarious like a circus participant; he couldn’t have helped the
opposition in any way; Buhari won election not because of, but in spite of, Sambo
Dasuki. We all know those who were threatening the country’s peace if Jonathan lost:
Asari Dokubo, Edwin Clark, Marilyn Ogar, etc and Sambo was in cahoots with them.

Ever since the 1983 and particularly 1985 coups d’état, when he became the ADC to
Ibrahim Babangida, Sambo Dasuki has been nursing dangerous political ambition, he
wants to be governor; he wants to be Sultan, why, he even wants to be president!

Sambo rode on the back of the tiger to acquire power and he understood that he ran
the risk of being consumed by it. Those who recruited Sambo and gave him the NSA
job had the singular aim of stopping Buhari; but they miscalculated and must now live
with the consequences.

Buhari has the mandate to deal with the country’s high profile crooks, now is the time
to disgorge their loot, jail them after due process and break their spirit and capacity to
harm our country; if Sambo Dasuki is one of them so be it.

#hogwash!Efcc is doing all this to cover its shame up!this is what I call pretence,hypocrisy nd likes!what stops them frm charging him to court after the show of shame in his house nd family house in sokoto?DSS is just acting like a robot that lackes direction..the DSs arrested the former cso for almost 5 dayss without any concrete evidence,is that nt wickedness?if someone probe,I expect him to be charge to court for normacy!the DSS lacks integrity,competence nd focus