NDA: Sack NSA Monguno now, group tells President Buhari

Following Tuesday’s attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy, the National Forum of Patriots (NFP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to act fast and relieve National Security Adviser (NSA), Babangana Monguno, of his duties.

According to the group, Monguno is not awake to his responsibilities, displaying gross incompetence and lacking idea on how to galvanize and coordinate strategic actions to end banditry and other security challenges.

The NFP made this known in a press statement today co-signed by Dr. Rotimi Adelabu and Alhaji Ibrahim Bala, its convener and co-convener respectively.

The statement noted that the gains made by the Armed Forces of Nigeria are directly undermined by the lack of will from Monguno’s office which was embroiled in a multi-million dollar arms procurement scandal.

While troops and their commanders take the battle to the criminals, the group stated that the NSA’s transactional tendencies have made their effort meaningless.

The NFP said that if something urgent is not done, the progress made by the former service chiefs as Mr. President’s legacies will be eroded by the NSA’s negligence.

To avert further collapse, the forum, therefore, urged President Buhari to dismiss Monguno and appoint someone with the needed capacity, competence and courage to put the nation’s security architecture on the right path.

It reminded President Buhari that his pledge to insecurity was part of the reasons Nigerians voted for him and it is a travesty that a mere appointee of his has made make him look this bad before the nation.

Read the full statement below:

The National Forum of Patriots (NFP) has watched the degenerating security situation in several parts of the country and serious concern, the early Tuesday morning attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) being a watershed. The development calls for President Muhammadu Buhari taking far-reaching decisions that should start with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babangana Monguno being relieved of his post immediately and with no further waste of time.

Nigerians have suffered the devastation of insecurity that the NSA should have effectively curbed if he were awake to his duty. What citizens are rather inundated with are reports of Monguno’s proclivity for material acquisition at the expense of making the country secure for Nigerians.

We keep reading about Monguno’s ties to shady procurement deals instead of reading about the value he has brought to arresting what is currently the most important thing to Nigerians, security.

We found it most unfortunate that the gains being made by the Armed Forces of Nigeria are being directly undermined by the lack of will emanating from the Office of the National Security Adviser. It is the NSA’s responsibility to cobble together all security and law enforcement efforts in a manner that accord cover to Nigerians.

The successes achieved by the past service chiefs as Mr. President’s legacies are being eroded at the same time new security threats are rising across the country. We tragically see new areas falling under the bloody grip of bandits and other criminal elements.

At a time when the country most needed competence, Monguno has proven to be lacking understanding of the current issues facing the country and his inability to galvanize and coordinate strategy actions that will see to the end of the banditry is one that should now be a source of worry for Nigerians.

Our worry is further compounded by the fact that it is a matter of time before Monguno re-infects the entire security architecture with the crass incompetence that he almost used to tarnish the image of those that sacrificed to secure the country. Troops and their commanders would be hard at work while the NSA’s transactional tendencies make them appear as if they are not doing anything meaningful to end Nigeria’s security crises.

It is on the strength of the foregoing that the National Forum of Patriots (NFP) hereby demands that something must give way and that is that President Muhammadu Buhari immediately sacks Babagana Monguno as the National Security Adviser (NSA) to enable those with the needed capacity, competence and courage occupy the position to, without any further delay, put the nation’s security architecture on the right path.

We like to remind Mr President that security was one of the major reasons Nigerians voted for him and it is a travesty that a mere appointee of his has made him look this bad before Nigerians. We demand that President Buhari immediately replaces Monguno with a capable person that will implement his vision of a secured Nigeria.

Mr. President needs to act NOW!