General Musa’s bold talk and Nigeria’s harsh reality

So General Christopher Musa is now our minister of defence. The senate confirmed him on Wednesday after about five hours of grilling, and President Tinubu couldn’t hide his excitement, commending the senate for the “expedited confirmation”.

My first thought when I read about the appointment? Here we go again.

Don’t get me wrong. General Musa is a fine officer with an impressive record. But I’ve been around long enough to know that changing the driver doesn’t fix a car with a faulty engine. And right now, Nigeria’s security architecture is not just faulty – it’s practically broken down on the highway.

Let me start with the elephant in the room. During his screening, Musa made a bold declaration: “There should be no negotiation with criminals. If you negotiate with them, they will never abide by it. They use the money to buy more arms.”

Beautiful statement. Applause-worthy even. But here’s my question – is this realistic given where we are as a country right now?

Over 200 schoolchildren are currently in the bush being tortured by bandits and terrorists. Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, mentioned it himself during the screening, even throwing in that Donald Trump is “on our neck” about it. So when parents of these kidnapped children are desperate, when communities are being held hostage, when governors are secretly paying ransoms to get their people back – how exactly do we enforce this no-negotiation policy?

I’m not saying we should be paying terrorists. God forbid. But let’s be honest about the gap between policy statements and reality on the ground. We’ve been saying “no negotiation” for years while quietly paying ransoms through the back door. The question is not whether the policy sounds good – the question is whether we have the capacity and political will to actually enforce it.

Now here’s where General Musa got my attention, and I think this is the most important thing he said during the entire screening: “One mistake we make is thinking the armed forces can solve all the problems. The military solution is just 20 to 25 per cent.”

Finally. Someone in authority is talking sense. For years, I’ve been writing on this page that you cannot solve a socio-economic problem with purely military solutions. You can’t shoot your way out of poverty, you can’t bomb away unemployment, you can’t raid your way to development. But our politicians – both at the federal and state levels – have been treating insecurity as if it’s only a military problem.

General Musa is saying the military component is just 20-25%. So where is the remaining 75-80%? That’s where governance comes in. That’s where education, jobs, infrastructure, justice system, and political will come in. And that’s exactly where we’ve been failing spectacularly.

The general also talked about the Safe School Initiative and pointed out something embarrassing – most schools have no perimeter fence. They are just sitting there, exposed, waiting to be raided.

Think about this for a minute. We knew terrorists were targeting schools. We’ve had Chibok, we’ve had Dapchi, we’ve had countless other abductions. We launched something called “Safe School Initiative” some years ago. And yet when you visit these schools, there’s no basic fence around them.

This is Nigeria in a nutshell. We are very good at launching initiatives, cutting ribbons, and making speeches. We are terrible at actually doing the work.

I’ve said it before on this page, and I’ll say it again – our northern governors have failed their people. When you have states where only 28 candidates register for common entrance exams, when 60% of out-of-school children in Nigeria are in the north, when schools don’t even have perimeter fences, you have to wonder what exactly these governors have been doing.

And before some people start shouting that I’m attacking the north, let me be clear – I’m a northerner. These are my people. That’s why it pains me to see the level of decay and abandonment. Sir Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa would be turning in their graves.

General Musa also called for a “whole-of-society approach” and said communities must be “first responders” because security agencies cannot be everywhere. Again, valid point. But let’s not be naive about this.

How do you expect villagers to defend themselves against bandits with AK-47s? How do you expect communities to be resilient when their young men have no jobs, no hope, no future?

The community approach will only work if we empower these communities. Give them state police. Create economic opportunities so young men are not susceptible to recruitment by terrorists. Build schools and actually put fences around them.

These are not rocket science solutions. These are basic governance 101.

Now, about this Trump pressure that Akpabio mentioned. I found it interesting that the Senate President felt the need to bring up Trump during the screening. “Even Donald Trump is on our neck,” he said.

The thing is, if we need American pressure before we take our own security seriously, then we have bigger problems than insurgency. The fact that we’re more afraid of Trump’s opinion than we are ashamed of 200 children in captivity should tell you everything about our priorities as a nation.

I also noticed something else during the screening. The senators initially wanted Musa to “take a bow and go” – basically confirm him without serious questioning. Thank God Akpabio blocked that move. Can you imagine? At a time when insecurity is probably the number one problem in the country, some senators thought the new defence minister should just bow and leave without explaining his plans.

This is the same national assembly that will spend weeks debating who should be principal officers, but wanted to rush through the confirmation of the person who will be coordinating our defence strategy.

Let me also address Musa’s comment that “terrorism affects all Nigerians” and “we are all victims.” True. But let’s not use that correct statement to dodge the very real targeting patterns we’ve seen. Yes, terrorists kill indiscriminately. Yes, they’re evil people on drugs. But the fact that Christian communities in Plateau, Benue, and Southern Kaduna have faced sustained attacks is not a conspiracy theory – it’s a documented reality.

We can acknowledge the targeting patterns while still maintaining that all Nigerian lives matter equally. These two things are not mutually exclusive.

So what’s my overall take on this appointment? General Musa has the credentials. He’s been tested as Chief of Defence Staff. He said some of the right things during his screening, especially about the limits of military solutions and the need for a holistic approach. That’s refreshing.

But here’s what I want to see from him in the next 90 days:

First, work with state governors to actually implement basic security measures in schools – starting with perimeter fencing. This is low-hanging fruit that doesn’t require rocket science or massive budgets.

Second, push for state police. The military can’t be everywhere, and the current police structure is failing. General Musa knows this.

Third, be honest with Nigerians about what the military can and cannot do. If you’re saying military solution is only 20-25%, then tell us clearly what the other ministries and agencies need to do to make up the remaining 75-80%.

Fourth, address the collusion between some security personnel and terrorists. We keep hearing these stories, but nothing concrete ever happens.

Finally, and most importantly, walk the talk on this no-negotiation policy. If you say it, enforce it. If you can’t enforce it, don’t waste our time with empty declarations.

The truth is, no matter how brilliant General Musa is, he cannot succeed without political will from the top and cooperation from state governments. President Tinubu and the 36 governors must be willing to do the hard work of governance – not just the easy work of making appointments and launching initiatives.

General Musa himself said it: effective policy and support from ministries, departments, and agencies are essential. Well, we’re waiting to see if this administration will actually provide that support or if this will be another case of giving a man responsibility without authority.

For now, I wish the new minister well. But Nigerians are tired of wishes and hopes. We want results. Those 200 children in the bush are not statistics – they are somebody’s daughters. Their rescue should be the immediate test of whatever strategy General Musa is bringing to the table.

Let’s see if he can deliver. May God help him, because he’s going to need it.