The incumbent President, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has since his inauguration on May 29, 2023, shown that he is really prepared to lead Nigeria to a large extent, aright following some of his latest actions as president and Commander in Chief.
Looking at the issue of security; yes he is yet to announce the Minister in charge Defence, the doing away with that intimidating Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) which had always been associated with all sorts of allegations of poor performance and even fraud remains a case of learning from history.
To us, having a usual Special Adviser on Security (SAoS) makes it less cumbersome in managing the security architecture.
No doubt, many Nigerians are wondering what must be responsible for the departure from tradition and convention they are used by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
To us at Business Hilights, its all about getting well prepared before getting the job than getting the job and learning on it.
However, another issue of concern is whether the appointee, Nuhu Ribadu can really do the job professionally having been engulfed in politics for some times now.
There is no legislation in creating the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The only legislation the National Security Adviser is mentioned in the corpus of laws of the Federation of Nigeria is the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act,2022.
Section 4 (a-f) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 vests functions on the National Security Adviser including formulation of policies for the effective implementation of counter-terrorism and financing of terrorism efforts; to ensure effective formulation and implementation of a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy in Nigeria, the establishment of a National Counter -Terrorism Centre with the approval of the President among others responsibilities.
Sections 5 (3) (g) & (5) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act also mentioned the National Security Adviser.
Section 6 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act also provides that there shall be established in the office of the National Security Adviser National Counter-Terrorism Centre which shall be the coordinating body for counter-terrorism and terrorism financing in Nigeria charged with the coordination of counter-terrorism policies.
Section 7 (1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act provides that the President shall appoint a National Coordinator for the National Counter-Terrorism Centre on the advice of the National Security Adviser.
Section 8(2) & (3) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) also mentioned the National Security Adviser.
It remains to be seen if the Special Adviser on Security is the same as the National Security Adviser mentioned and contemplated by the legislature of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
