By Sani Gazas Chinade, Damaturu
The Kulen Allah Cattle Rearers Association of Nigeria (KACRAN) has urged the newly appointed Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Christopher Musa (Rtd) to justify the confidence reposed in him by Nigerians in overcoming the security challenges.
The national President of the Association Khalid Muhammad Bello stated this in a press statement obtained by our reporter in Damaturu.
According to him, “The Minister assumes office at a time when Nigeria is facing perhaps the most serious security challenges in its history”.
According to him, there is a unanimous demand from the President and the citizenry for an immediate halt to violence, including kidnapping, the abduction of school children, the destruction of farms and property, cattle rustling, attacks on places of worship, and the brutal killing of innocents.
“The KACRAN belief in the competence of General Musa, who is viewed as a figure with the capacity to miraculously turn the tide, given his extraordinary performance in previous theatres of operation, including Liberia, the North East, and his tenure as Chief of Defence Staff.”
Obviously the Minister faces a unique challenge never before seen by an elected or appointed official in our history: a critically short timeline. To our knowledge, no Defence Minister has had a window of one year or less to prove their competence in such a complicated environment.
“We say this because, considering the political calendar and the forthcoming 2027 elections (campaigns for which may effectively begin in 2026), the success of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and many Governors seeking re-election depends largely on the ability of the incoming Defence Minister to reduce insecurity to the barest minimum.
“We critically observe that, no matter how committed or hardworking the Minister may be, if security challenges worsen or remain stagnant by the next election cycle, the administration will face the same electoral difficulties encountered by the Jonathan administration in 2015. Therefore, the Minister is expected to achieve six years’ worth of progress in less than one year.
“In view of these high stakes, we call upon General Musa to justify the confidence reposed in him. We urge him to utilize his vast military experience—not only in combat but in the art of maintaining peace—to restore normalcy, trust, and brotherliness to the country between now and October 2026.
“Therefore we request the Minister to bring all security challenges to the table for critical analysis to fully understand their root causes.
Hybrid Approach: We urge a departure from the current over-reliance on excessive military force. The Ministry must identify which challenges can be amicably resolve through dialogue and negotiation, reserving kinetic military action only for situation where it is absolutely necessary.
“We advise the Minister to operate an open-door policy, listening to citizens who possess meaningful intelligence or advice on ending the conflicts and also call on security operatives, traditional rulers, politicians, and all citizens to provide maximum support to enable the Minister to succeed within this short period.
“KACRAN assures the Minister of our readiness to provide all necessary support to achieve peaceful coexistence. We passionately appeal to him to consider KACRAN’s specific proposal on how to end insecurity in the North West and North Central zones within 3 to 6 months, with minimal military engagement”.
