By Kingston Magare 3.12.2025
Former Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa has been cleared by the Nigerian Senate to be the country’s Defence Minister.
General Musa was nominated by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday for the role after Mohammed Badaru Abubakar resigned.
Musa’s nomination was hailed by a cross section of Nigerians who believe that the nation’s security challenges need a new approach after an upscale of attacks and kidnappings in the country by terror gangs.
“I believe that the challenges we are facing is a Nigerian challenge, not only for the armed forces or security forces, but for everyone working together,” Musa told the Senators at his screening.
“I want to assure you; we will win working together as a team. Even when I was CDS, I tried to harmonise all the teams and service chiefs.
“There are a lot of gaps and constitutional lacuna that are affecting operations. We will follow up to make sure everyone is on board.”
He also added that there was a need for government and individuals to stop negotiating with terrorists to pay ransom.
“There should be no negotiation with criminals. If you negotiate with them, they will never abide by it. They use the money to buy more arms.”
On the claims of Christian genocide in the country, Musa said all Nigerians are victims of terrorism.
“We are all victims; everybody is being killed,” he said.
“We must stop the killings. Nigerians should not be killed. We must unite. These are evil people who are on drugs, they kill everyone, they don’t know who is who.”