Retired Airforce Officer and Security Consultant, Squadron Leader, Ben Williams, has counselled President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that only security experts are appointed to manage the ministry of Defence for seamless outcomes.
Ben Williams who is a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said the party wants the best for the country and the President who has been elected on the strength of the party needed to be guided when stakeholders perceive such need.
According to him, the need for experts in security is clearly required in the defence space stretching over 923,000km land space.
“It is the duty of the pool of retired officers across the service who have been invested in by the Nigerian state to draw the president’s attention to these facts.
Sharing his concern with the media he said he aligns with the thoughts of the political analyst, Mahdi Shehu who appeared on Arise TV to describe as an “insult” the appointments of Mohammed Badaru and Bello Matawalle as Ministers and Minister of state for defence respectively.
He charged the President to save Nigeria the ‘insult’ and source square pegs of retired military assets to fill the square hole in the defence ministerial slots because the task of ‘superintending’ or supervising over critical formations and commands across the nations in the police Commands and in the military required the guide of experience all the way.
He stated that the appointment of the former governors of Jigawa Mohammed Badaru and Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle was completely off-mark for the President and should be reconsidered as ministers for defence.
He said Defence matters are not to be experimented upon or should not be politicized as they involve lives of millions of Nigerians. Therefore, the president should be deliberate and explore professionals whose lives have been moulded over the years based on security matters.
According to him “The task of superintending over critical formations across the country in the police Commands in the military cannot be done on experimental basis or requiring people tgat will learn on the job.
“Security matters are very specialized, the training are detailed and demanding, it is why military resources and assets are not taken for granted anywhere in the world whether they are serving or retired, Nigeria cannot be an exception,” he stated.
He wondered what message President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was trying to pass across to Nigerians when he appointed the duo, whose track record do not speak of security excellence, especially the minister of state who governed a state apparently under siege of bandits who could not control the situation.
“What exactly is the president up to with this “insulting” appointments to use the words of the analyst Mahdi Shehu who conveyed the minds of many serving and retired military officers and the whole of Nigeria who have records of incapacitation, especially of the former Zamfara state governor who did not impressively handled the security challenge that tested his will in his home state while he governed.
“I want to believe the President deliberately made these names public to sample public opinion and that would help him fine tune his decision on the final list. For a listening president, I would advise that he does not create an ego problem in the ministry of defence from the outset of ministerial appointments.
“The President has access to retired military generals, who rendered their invaluable service to the security committee during the presidential campaigns. He cannot deny that the services offered by these officers led by a distinguished gentleman was top notch, he should tap into that asset.
“This call is very important because The security challenge in Nigeria today required experience to tackle, we are dealing with criminals of all kinds, pirates and economic saboteurs of all kinds, kidnappers, bandits, Terrorist, armed groups in different part of the country stretching the capacity of the military.
“Only a tactician with specialized military training can appropriately deploy men and resources to tackle this challenge.
“President Tinubu must know that it is the right of Nigeria as a nation to use her assets which she has invested in their training over the years.
“These assets are replete in the pool of retired military officers available for him to access, assess and explore for national defence benefits, we all know the president means well for Nigeria, therefore he should remove the “insulting appointments ” on the nation’s security and make us all feel safe.
“Let me directly request the President to tap into the national asset of retired officers and ensure “Inclusion” of the defence team” the Squadron leader stated.