DIALA TO RIBADU: Tinubu govt didn’t inherit “extremely poor security situation” from Buhari
By KEMI KASUMU
Public affairs analyst and Al Progressives Congress (APC) member, Dr. Uche Diala, has replied Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in his repeated attempt to push the failures of the current Tinubu Administration, under which he serves as National Security Adviser (NSA), to past administration of Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.
His reply has been detailed in the Open Letter below:
OPEN LETTER TO NSA NUHU RIBADU
Dear Sir,
There are things called, truth, honour, integrity and a sense of responsibility and accountability.
First, permit me to respectfully disagree with you and to factually correct you, Sir.
Both by data and statistics, and by the lived and practical experiences of Nigerians, from 2015 to 2023, you did not inherit an “extremely poor security situation”.
No doubt, the situation was no where near perfect, including with the emergent challenge of banditry, but “definitely not “extremely poor”, as you put it. As a matter of fact, that your excuse is an insult to the collective intelligence and sensibilities of intelligent, honest, informed and sensible Nigerians.
You definitely did not inherit a worse security situation than President Muhammadu Buhari inherited in 2015.
May I remind you, Sir, that as of May 29th 2015:
Boko Haram was holding swathes of Nigerian sovereign territory from the North East to the North West with its flag hoisted high in many parts.
In addition, all the way up the North Central, including the federal capital territory, were clearly under seige.
To complicate matters, our military was under equipped, our armoury near empty with our troops highly demoralised and thousands of Nigeria citizens were externally displaced, from Cameroon to Niger, etc.
Sir, as of May 29th 2023, when you took over, you clearly did not inherit even a quarter of that. Please, do not assume that every Nigerian is unintelligent or has equally suddenly developed selective amnesia.
May I also remind you, that the number of terrorist attacks in Nigeria as of 2014 and 2015 was 700 and 600 respectively and that was progressively drastically reduced to 100 in 2022; according to the Global Terrorism Index Report 2025. That feat was neither achieved by accident nor by propaganda.
Sir, it is insensitive of you to give Nigerians the examples of Sudan, Afghanistan, Niger, Mali, etc., as an excuse for at least not holding the forth and ground handed over to you.
It is equally disingenuous of you to say that no part of Nigeria is under occupation today, as if you were handed a nation whose parts were occupied.
The question still remains. What is the security situation of the nation that was handed over to you, barely two years ago?
Sir, with all respect, the simple and glaring truth is that you bungled things and you have allowed insecurity to worsen under your watch in just two years, just as the economy and virtually everything else has either worsened or crumbled.
I dare say that, when one realises that a task is bigger than one’s capacity or when one fails to achieve the expected and desired result or falls far below expectation, there is something called resignation.
However, whether you choose to do the honourable thing and resign, if you have done your best, or whether the President decides to remove you or not, Nigerians will do the needful DEMOCRATICALLY in two year’s time, by the grace of God.
I believe that the majority of Nigerians have seen, heard and witnessed enough. More than enough damage has been done in so short a time. At least, then we can halt the downward spiral and begin the arduous and painful process of digging out and rebuilding.
In the interim, I wish you good luck.
May the souls of our fallen compatriots rest in peace.
©️ Uche Diala
