A SHORT OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW MINISTER OF DEFENCE
Dear General Christopher Musa, I hope this message meets you in good health and sanity of mind? If so, Doxology...
First of all, I believe congratulations are in order regarding your recent elevation - from a freshly retired soldier to the Number One Man presiding over the nation’s defence architecture.
Or shall I rather offer condolences in place of congratulations, for I cannot imagine a harsher season to occupy such a strategic and sensitive office than this very moment? No one envies the farmer who inherits a field in the heart of a drought, and the man who becomes captain in troubled waters inherits not just the ship but every raging storm around it. Either Cong or Cond, General, you are most heartily welcome on board.
As my opening may have hinted, and as public reactions to your appointment clearly suggest, your decoration as Minister of Defence is one wrapped not only in timeliness but in dangerous significance. This is an hour when even silence carries weight, and every breath from your office echoes far beyond its walls.
Because of the gravity that calls unto your desk, where others laugh, you are forbidden to smile; where your colleagues may be pardoned for careless slips, even your carefulness will be dissected with a magnifying lens; and while some can afford to fail flamboyantly, Dear Minister, even your spectacular successes may still be scrutinized and downplayed - for your office is not about brick and mortar, but about human lives. And one Nigerian life lost to violence can wash away months of commendable peace.
Therefore, Dear Minister… I am under no illusion of advising a General forged by three decades of military steel. No, I am not. In fact, the only weapon I can boast of mastering is the Pen - if writing itself can be considered an art of war. I cannot shoot a gun to save my destiny; on matters of combat, I stand gloriously unqualified.
However, as a citizen, I believe the few nuggets below may contribute a grain - even a dot - to your wealth of experience as you step into this battlefield of duty:
1. Every bandit is a criminal.
There is no such species as a “bandit for a just cause.” Every Bandit is a Terrorist, an Outlaw - to be outrightly condemned.
2. There is no repentant terrorist.
If any terrorist has found repentance or encountered Damascus, they should report their revelation face to face to their Creator. Our job as a nation is to facilitate their prompt transportation to the meeting.
3. In this volatile season, all terrorists must be treated alike.
A terrorist receiving VIP visitors in prison is an insult to the deeæd. Kanu of IPOB should face the same treatment as Shekau of Boko Haram - no sacred cows in the zoo of violence.
4. All negotiations, conversations, or deliberations with terrorists should be banned and criminalized.
We do not want to see state governors sharing tables, tea, or jokes with kîllərs.
5. All terrorist sympathizers - Gumi, Peter Obi, private or public officials alike, should be invited for questioning, thoroughly investigated, and prosecuted if revelations so demand.
No one should enjoy immunity for fraternizing with the merchants of dêăth.
Finally… as Tai Solarin once thundered, and as MHR Jimi Benson re-echoed with conviction: May your road be rough, Sir.
For only the rough road produces the resilient traveller.
Congratulations - and Best of Luck.
I congratulate Gen. Christopher G. Musa on his appointment as the Federal Minister of Defence. This comes at a time we need experienced and proactive leaders. We will continue to keep him in our prayers always. Congratulations Sir.
“Sh%%t on Sight, Don’t Wait for Orders” — Defence Minister Musa Tells Troops
Newly appointed Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd), has instructed troops to “sh%%t on sight” and immediately engage any armed bandits they encounter, stressing that they must not wait for further directives.
Speaking during his Senate screening on Wednesday, Musa said this firm order is crucial for frontline protection and restoring public trust in Nigeria’s security response. He issued the directive while addressing lawmakers’ concerns about delays in giving commands during insurgent confrontations.
According to him, once deployed, troops automatically carry the mandate to neutralise armed criminals. He stated, “You are to engage any criminal or any bandit that is armed and about to k+ll you. You don’t have to wait. Once you are deployed, you automatically have that responsibility.” Musa warned that no soldier should claim to be waiting for authorisation during imminent d+nger. He said, “Somebody’s aiming to sh%%t at you, you’re waiting for orders, from who? If any member of the armed forces deployed anywhere tells you that he’s waiting for an order, he is lying and he’s only a c@ward.”
He also announced a plan to withdraw soldiers from routine checkpoints and redeploy them to active conflict zones, while the police and NSCDC take over checkpoint duties. This, he said, would allow soldiers to “go into the bushes and take out these criminals.” Musa stressed the importance of restoring security for farmers, noting, “Farmers must be able to go back to their farms.
If people can’t eat, you can imagine what will happen.” On the rising k+lling across regions, he described the perpetrators as “a bunch of ev+ll people on dr¥gs,” warning that terrorists exploit gaps in security coordination. “No Nigerian must be k+lled for whatever reason,” he added. He acknowledged the high expectations tied to his role, “I know that I cannot afford to fail myself, fail my nation, fail my family.”
STATEHOUSE PRESS RELEASE
PRESIDENT TINUBU SWEARS IN GEN. CHRISTOPHER MUSA AS MINISTER OF DEFENCE
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Thursday, swore in General Christopher Gwabin Musa (rtd) as Minister of Defence at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
General Musa’s appointment follows the resignation of Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar on Monday, December 1, 2025. His nomination was announced the following day and transmitted to the Senate, where it received expedited screening and confirmation.
Born in Sokoto in 1967, General Musa was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Nigerian Army in 1991 and had a distinguished military career. He was appointed Chief of Defence Staff by President Tinubu in 2023 and retired in October 2025.
As Chief of Defence Staff, he championed inter-service security collaboration.
With his swearing-in, the new Defence Minister is expected to immediately assume duties as the Tinubu administration seeks to consolidate recent security gains and fast-track reforms aimed at achieving lasting peace and stability nationwide.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Sen. Adeniyi Adegbonmire, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Also in attendance were the spouse of the new Minister, Mrs Lilian Oghogho Musa; Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah; and Justice Kumai Bayang Akaahs (rtd).
Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President
(Information & Strategy)
December 4, 2025
Shoot On Sight, Wait For No Order ~ Defence Minister Charges Troops
The newly appointed Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (rtd), has ordered troops to engage armed bandits immediately on sight without waiting for further directives.
Two days ago, I transmitted the name of General Christopher G. Musa, our immediate past Chief of Defence Staff and a fine gentleman, to the Nigerian Senate for confirmation as the Federal Minister of Defence.
I want to commend the Nigerian Senate for its expedited confirmation of General Musa yesterday. His appointment comes at a critical juncture in our lives as a Nation.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
~ Bola Ahmed Tinubu
President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
@NGRPresident@NigeriaGov
Uzbekistan, a 94% Muslim majority country, as part of its broader reform agenda, implemented the following measures:
1. Banned face-covering clothing in public.
2. Restricted hijabs in schools.
3. Prohibited private religious education for children.
4. Required surveillance cameras in mosques.
5. Controlled publication of religious literature.
6. Monitored and censored imams, discouraging social media use.
7. Penalized participation in unauthorized religious gatherings.
8. Regulated Hajj through state-managed applications.
9. Promoted a state-sanctioned, secular version of Islam.