₦airaland Forum

The Nigeria Ministry of Defence is the body responsible for national security. It supervises the Nigerian armed forces, protecting the borders, overseeing defense policies, military intelligence, coordination of armed operations, procurement of weapons and advising the president on all matters relating to national security.

Ideally, the minister of defence should be someone with very strong experience in military service, national defense, national security defense strategy, counter insurgency operations, intelligence work or at least expertise in defence administration; someone who understands troop deployment, conflict zones, military logistics, weapon procurement, and the very architecture of national security.

Nigeria's current Minister of state for Defence is Bello Matawale. The former governor of Zamfara State, between 2019 to 2023. Yes, the same Zamfara that is one of the most terror-plagued states in the northern region.

Now, you might be asking yourself, what is his qualifications for being the Minister of state for Defence, right? His background is that he started off as a teacher in a government girls' college in Izimorike in Zamfara state. Afterwards, he became a civil servant where he joined the Federal Ministry of Water Resources before giving politics a shot where he ran and won a seat in the National Assembly, and has been in politics ever since.

He held multiple political positions including being a House of Reps member at some point before he became the governor of Zanfara State. And somehow, despite not having a single strand of military or defence-related experiences or expertise, not anywhere in his education or career, he is now in charge of national security for the entire country. This is a man who has never served in the armed forces, never officially trained in defense strategy, never managed a military operation, never worked in intelligence, and never handled any form of defence logistics.

And yet somehow he and his principal, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, are responsible for coordinating security operations against Boko Haram, against bandits, against multiple other terrorist groups and militant groups we have across the country. More troubling, as the governor of Zamfara state, he could not control the insecurity in his state. Under his leadership, Zamfara remained one of the most terrorized states in Nigeria. After failing to secure his state as a governor, he was put in charge of securing 36 states, including the FCT.

And then there were allegations. During his time as governor, he had been accused by the current governor of Zamfara State, Dawda Lawal, of basically frolicking with bandits. He had been accused of colluding with bandits, keeping bandits in the government house in Zamfara, paying ransom directly to terrorists, and procuring even vehicles for popular notorious bandit kingpins like Bello Tunji.

Right after he left office, the EFCC announced a massive investigation into allegations of extensive corruption, fraudulent contract awards, and the misappropriation of funds of over 70 billion naira during his administration.

This is a clear case of politicization of insecurity in Nigeria. When people with no defence experience, with unresolved controversies; people who could not secure their own states are placed in charge of the national security of the entire country, it becomes clear that appointments are not based on competence, they're based on politics; on who knows who; or who can do what for who in power. Then national security stops being about governance, protecting the people. It is now about protecting the interests of those in power.

Now that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared a state of emergency on Nigeria's security situation, there is need for people like Matawalle Bello to resign.

SOURCE

I am Muslim and abhor Boko Haram for it mocks not honours the tenets of my faith.

There is nothing Islamic there except that it uses the legitimacy of Islam to lure the ignorant, gullible and hopeless into their sordid trap. Boko Haram exalts violence, not God. It kills Muslim and Christian alike because its faith is not Islam but mayhem and lawlessness.

You are overgeneralizing. There are many factors responsible for insecurity in Nigeria, and it is unfair to lay the blame at the feet of the current Minister of Defense.

HgAkpobomeEr:
You are overgeneralizing. There are many factors responsible for insecurity in Nigeria, and it is unfair to lay the blame at the feet of the current Minister of Defense.

And the many factors are too much for the government to handle? You are a learner.

HgAkpobomeEr:
The caption is misleading. These are not jihadist terrorists. They are simply criminals.

HgAkpobomeEr:
The US Defense Secretary's comment is inappropriate and unwarranted.

HgAkpobomeEr:
The US will not bomb bandits. The US knows that bandits are not the problem.

HgAkpobomeEr:
Non-kinetic approach is the way to go for now.

Non-kinetic approach means terrorists should continue to kill and kidnap, while governments continue to pay billions of naira to them in ransom to acquire more weapons. Rinse and repeat. In the end, acquire enough weapons to overrun the whole country.

It seems the terrorists are so dear to your heart.

Matawale is not the Minister of Defence now. Why are you people always running away from discussing the issues at hand which is the insecurity in Nigeria?

Why are you people always shifting the goal post unnecessarily?

Salewa97:
Why are you people always running away from discussing the issues at hand which is the insecurity in Nigeria?

These are the issues at hand:

The current Minister of Defence in Nigeria is Mohammed Badaru Abubakar - Jigawa state

The current Minister of State for Defence of Nigeria is Dr. Bello Muhammad Matawalle - Zamfara state

Is it a surprise to you that the ministry of defence is 100% in the hands of northerners who are sympathetic to their terrorists brothers, and are even using the terrorists to cash out?

The Minister of State for Defense is not in charge of security. He is a supporting actor. The lead role is played by the Minister of Defense, who is also a retired military officer.

ebukal67x:
The Minister of State for Defense is not in charge of security. He is a supporting actor. The lead role is played by the Minister of Defense, who is also a retired military officer.

Yes, he plays the role of a middleman between terrorists and the FG. He is in charge of the "Non-kinetic" approach (ransom payments to terrorists by governments). The more ransom paid to terrorists, the richer the minister.
What makes you thing he isn't complicit in the current insecurities in Nigeria? Yeye people.

https://www.nairaland.com/8564781/how-defence-minister-maintains-contact

https://www.nairaland.com/8565767/bello-matawalle-tinubu-dispatches-minister

You dont expect the defense minister to be a career soldier.

trutharena:
You dont expect the defense minister to be a career soldier.

But defence ministers can be individuals who benefit from the insurgency, corrupt former governors and law makers, terrorists makers and sympathizers.
I would not be surprised if tomorrow they create Ministry of Bandits Affairs, where he can be made a substantive minister. Such is the bane of a "disgraced country".

Now that the minister of defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, has resigned, Bello Matawalle, the minister for state, has to go too.

Nlfpmod what is your take on this?