By Ochiaka Ugwu
Former Minister of Interior and Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General, Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd), has been described as the best man to supervise the Nigerian military as Minister of Defence.
Ben Lion Heart Vanguard, a non governmental Organization made this call to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a press statement, describing General Danbazzau (retd) as an officer whose loyalty to the Nigerian State, constitution and national security has remained impeccable.
According to the Group, providing General Dambazzau the opportunity to serve, the former minister of interior would provide professional oversight on security as he harnesses the military resource he understands very well, to stabilize Nigeria internally and otherwise.
Ben Lion Heart Vanguard said the antecedent of General Dambazzau commands respect from all arms of the military as these officers across military arms know that the quality and character of the Danbazzau was fit for defence assignment, this they said was critical.
The statement signed by Mr. Ben Willam, a retired air force officer and security consultant, said, Nigeria needs a patriot at this time to carry out purposeful security oversight with surgical precision to ensure the safety of Nigerians and their property.
He argued that this has consistently featured in the period of service across various commands of the former minister of interior while serving in the military.
According to him, General Danbazzau’s positive impact in the various command and public offices he held have remained a footprint of reference in good and exemplary leadership and he did not perform less as minister of interior in institutional/public administration.
Williams said, for example, the former minister of interior created a situation room for the coordination activities of all security and public safety agencies, for a seamless response to emergencies, anywhere they may arise.
Another footprint was that he led the US-Nigeria Security Sector Initiatives for the reforms of the security sector in response to emergencies, defence procurements, and activities in the northeast.
Beside these he developed the idea of establishing the institute of domestic security for the strategic training of senior officers in the security agencies.
For Dambazzau,national security was a critical stabilizing factor for national development, thus, to allow for easy national security, he proposed the idea of production of passports in Nigeria rather than overseas to make passports cheaper for Nigerians and also protect the database.
The statement said while Nigeria has a pool of officers who may be deemed qualified for this task, it was of national interest and promotion of national security that the association deem it fit to draw the attention of the president to a square peg in a square hole, in the person of General Abdulrahman Danbazzau (rted) at this juncture of our national life.
He said the General’s contribution was immense during the presidential campaigns. This started with the keenly contested National Convention that saw the emergence of the President as the presidential candidate for APC.
As the special adviser, strategic engagement, General Danbazzau deployed his experience and contacts to engage hundreds of interest groups all over the country into the pro-Tinubu campaign and the nation has seen the impact of his right judgement
The statement noted that in the bid to promote food security, Danbazzau created the agro rangers in the Civil Defence Corps for the protection of agricultural investments for individuals, groups and institutions against attacks from bandits and other criminals.
Statement argued that his rise through the rank in the army was due to his responsible disposition to each assignment and office he occupied, as all duties assigned were executed with patriotism and national defence at heart.
For example the statement recollected that before assuming the position of the 26th Chief of Army Staff, General Danbazzau has functioned effectively to the admiration of his superiors, contemporaries and junior officers in his various command as the Registrar/Instructor, Nigerian Defence Academy (1993-1999) and later Chief Instructor, at the Support weapon Wing of the Infantry Centre and School from 1999 – 2001.
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