A security stakeholder and community engagement expert, Henry Bassey, has faulted the call by the Senator representing Osun East, Francis Fadahunsi, for the replacement of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, with a retired military officer.
Fadahunsi had, in a statement issued on December 2, 2025, urged President Bola Tinubu to appoint a former military officer as NSA and redeploy Ribadu to another national assignment.
Reacting, Bassey described the call as "dangerous, outdated and inconsistent with modern security leadership."
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He said, "The call to replace Mallam Nuhu Ribadu with a retired military officer reflects a narrow and outdated understanding of national security. What Nigeria needs is results, not recycled arguments rooted in obsolete assumptions."
Bassey explained that national security had gone beyond military hardware to include political, economic, environmental, food, energy and cyber considerations.
He noted that globally, the NSA position is often held by civilians with deep policy and intelligence backgrounds, citing the United States where the current NSA, Jake Sullivan, is a civilian lawyer.
"Even in Nigeria, former police chiefs like Gambo Jimeta and Aliyu Ismaila Gwarzo served as NSA and performed excellently," he said.
According to him, Ribadu's background in intelligence, anti-corruption, inter-agency coordination and counter-terrorism makes him well suited for the office.
"The NSA is not a combatant position. It requires strategic thinking, intelligence coordination and integrity -- qualities Ribadu has demonstrated for decades," Bassey added.
He warned that the notion that only military officers could command respect within the armed forces was dangerous in a democratic setting.
Bassey urged the Federal Government to sustain the current security architecture under Ribadu, stressing that "excessive militarisation of the NSA office will only weaken Nigeria's broader security framework."
