Early this week, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Retired Rear Admiral Yaminu Ehinomen Musa as the pioneer Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre, NCTC. The appointment which takes immediate effect is for an initial term of five years.
Before his appointment, Rear Admiral Musa was the Director of the Counter Terrorism Directorate in the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, a position he has occupied since 2017.
He is credited with the review of the National Counter Terrorism Strategy, NACTEST, and the creation of the Policy Framework and National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, PCVE, which President Buhari signed into law in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Additionally, the retired Navy officer served as the Nigerian representative at the Global Counter Terrorism Forum, GCTF, for the last 3 years.
His qualifications for the top position are not in doubt. Apart from having been a top military brass, he has a PhD in Security and Strategy from Nassarawa State University, Keffi, a Master of Arts, International RelationsSalve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island in the US, a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Lagos and a Diploma in Defence and Security, from U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island.
But Rear Admiral Musa has his job cut out for him and it is not an easy one, especially at this time when Nigeria is an active and hot bed of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other serious and allied crimes that seemed to have branched off from terrorists’ activities.
The NCTC which he has been appointed to head is established in the ONSA as the coordinating body for the harmonization of all counter terrorism and terrorism financing efforts in the country.
NCTC is equally charged with the coordination of counter terrorism policies, strategies, plans and support in the performance of the functions of the National Security Adviser, as provided in the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition Act.
Harmonising counter terrorism and security efforts is not an easy task in a country like Nigeria where there are several security and defence agencies, each working to outdo the other and lacking in confidence from the public.
Rear Admiral Musa has been known though to always encourage synergy with even the public by embarking on sensitisation for the implementation of the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy across Nigerian states, acknowledging at one of such fora in Jos, Plateau State, that sensitisation is part of measures to enhance the Federal Government’s onslaught against insurgency and stressing that the fight against terror should not be left with the government alone.
He said the fight should involve every Nigerian in a united action, so as to consciously awaken the people on the need for a collective approach, as well as blend with security professionalism and government agency collaboration. Such sensitisation programmes should cover all states, local government areas, organised private sector and the general public.
The Counter Terrorism Centre now fully headed by the Admiral Musa as Coordinator, has pioneered key initiatives since 2012, in response to the challenges of Terrorism that Nigeria has faced, with the signing into law of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011. The Act designates the Office of the National Security Adviser as the Coordinating Office for Nigeria’s Counter terrorism efforts. The Act also gives ONSA the mandates to, “ensure the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive Counter Terrorism Strategy and build capacity for the effective discharge of the functions of relevant security, intelligence, law enforcement and military services.”
In line with the foregoing, the Counter Terrorism Centre was established in 2012, and is located in the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Rear Admiral Musa is expected to provide leadership, coordination and strategic guidance to security, law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The Centre’s relationships with relevant partners transcend State Actors, to include donor agencies, Counter Terrorism platforms like the Global Counter Terrorism Forum, Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, Hedayah ( based in Abu Dhabi) and the United Nations.
Following the unveiling of the National Counter Terrorism Strategy Document and the ongoing National PCVE Programme in the country, the role of the Centre has been tremendously appreciated as a value-adding entity among its strategic partners. This growing profile has meant increased interest in the activities of the Centre, both at home and abroad.
NACTEST, which was reviewed by Rear Admiral Musa, was the result of considerable research from the department of the Counter-terrorism, in consultation with international experts, security practitioners and academics. The outcome is a robust national strategy that combines the hard military approach, intelligence gathering and use of force, with a soft approach, which aims to win hearts and minds and address the root causes of radicalization within Nigerian communities.
NACTEST is based on five pillars:
1. Forestall: prevention by engaging the public through sustained sensitization campaigns and de-radicalization programmes.
2. Secure: ensuring the protection of life and property, key national infrastructure and services including national interests worldwide.
3. Identify: investigating and bringing violent extremist offenders to justice.
4. Prepare: adequately preparing the populace in order to mitigate the consequences of terrorist incidents.
5. Implement: devising a framework to effectively mobilize and sustain a coordinated cross-governmental population-centred effort.
Through this broad-based strategy, it is believed that the country can limit the multitude of pathways that can lead individuals to being radicalized and prevent terrorist attacks from happening in the first place.
With YEM Musa at the helm of affairs, the hope is that the war against terrorism will be faced head on and the various agencies involved will cooperate to ensure that Nigeria rids itself of this terrorism scourge that has turned citizens into people who are afraid of neighbours because no one is sure of the other anymore.
Counter terrorism is a war that must be won quickly so that the confidence of Nigerians in the agencies, men and women employed to ensure their security will receive the desired boost.
IMAGE CREDIT: ctc.gov.ng
Beautiful qualifications waiting to produce sustainable results. All the best to him.