By Prof. Mondy Selle Gold
Mr. President, Nigeria has arrived at a perilous inflection point, and the recent nomination to the Ministry of Defense has illuminated a troubling cycle that demands candid repudiation.
The nation is convulsing under the weight of unrestrained violence, yet instead of confronting terrorism with structural audacity, this administration continues to politicize national insecurity, treating it as an arena for political maneuver rather than a national emergency requiring unflinching reinvention.
General Christopher Musa is an accomplished soldier whose professional journey reflects steadfast competence, disciplined valor, and exemplary dedication to service. Yet the sobering truth must be spoken with unflinching clarity.
Even the most formidable commanders in the annals of human history, including George Washington, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, Dwight David Eisenhower, and Napoleon Bonaparte, would be rendered ineffectual within a system as calcified, convoluted, and institutionally resistant to transformation as the one that governs Nigeria today.
Nigeria’s crisis is not the absence of distinguished officers or the scarcity of patriotic warriors. It is a foundational infirmity, a structural malady so deeply embedded that no brilliance of command can triumph over the rot that encases the national security apparatus.
Each new appointment, no matter how ceremonially choreographed or wrapped in the language of renewal, becomes yet another exercise in rearranging responsibilities atop a collapsing edifice.
The substratum itself is compromised, hollowed, and unable to sustain the weight of genuine reform.
The truth stands incontrovertible. What Nigeria requires is not another ornamental reshuffle or obvious delay tactics.
“What Nigeria requires is Reset. Reformat. Restructure.”
Until the substratal configuration of governance, federalism, internal security, and justice is profoundly reengineered, the nation will continue to stagger through cycles of violence.
Fresh faces will administer antiquated failures, new uniforms will wage battles that are structurally unwinnable, and lofty declarations will continue to obscure the same chronic paralysis that has brought the country to this dangerous precipice.
The enduring wave of terrorism that ravages communities from the northern plains to the central heartlands is not an unfortunate coincidence. It is the predictable consequence of decades of centralized inefficacy, patronage-driven security management, and an unnecessary refusal to devolve authority to regions that bear the heaviest burdens.
Terrorism has gradually evolved into a political currency within the Nigerian power matrix, traded, manipulated, and tolerated for expediency. Until that illicit currency is abolished, no minister, irrespective of experience or pedigree, can deliver meaningful change.
Stop monetizing bandits and terrorists. Stop turning human tragedy into a political marketplace. National security cannot be commodified in a republic struggling to reclaim its own soul.
Mr. President, this is not the moment for appeasement masquerading as leadership. It is not the moment for political placation, symbolic gestures, or administrative musical chairs.
This is the moment for historic bravery. Nigeria will not be redeemed through cosmetic appointments. It will be redeemed only through structural courage.
The path forward is unmistakable. Reformat the federation so that authority aligns with responsibility and justice is not merely an aspiration but a lived reality.
Reset the nation’s security framework. Restructure Nigeria so that security is localized, accountability is unavoidable, and impunity is no longer a negotiable commodity.
Until that foundational disorder is confronted with courage, candor, and structural audacity, even our brightest generals will be required to fight battles that are unwinnable not because of their competence, but because the system they serve is engineered to fail. It is time to do the needful without further hesitation,
Mr. President. History is observing. Posterity is recording. And the nation is waiting for the leader who will rise above politics and finally act with the moral magnitude this moment requires.
Prof. Mondy Selle Gold is an American-based scholar of distinguished merit.
A recipient of the United States President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the African Community Service Award, the African Eagles Global Financial and Academic Icon Award, and the highly regarded Colorado State University Faculty Spotlight Award. An inductee of the Nigerian Hall of Fame and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Governance and Leadership.
Gold produces extensive scholarship on governance, human rights, global diplomacy, and the intricate relationship between religion and public life.