In the Shadow of Death, I have no Fear, the story of Ribadu, Nigerian NSA

By Tom Garba,  Yola

Nigeria got men and women who can dire the dreaded and the representation of terror all to live and give a life of sacrifice.  Either through blood,  or sun and thunderstorms of life. 

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu,  a retired Assistant Inspector General (AIG),  who pioneered the Economy and financial crimes commission (EFCC) as its founding Chairman and a promising politician from Adamawa State.  Ribadu is one of such few Nigerians who believe in the corporate existence of the country and can do anything positive to save the country from collapsing.  He is currently the National Security Adviser (NSA) under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. 

His assignment as the new Nigeria NSA I discovered is a duty rightly called on him to give his wealth of experience,  to tap from his pool of ideas and database security expertise.  Excerpts from one of his books:  "Ribadu: My Story, My Vision",  Ribadu is a courageous Man with an innate fearless spirit to face the threats of death. 

In that book, he reeled out true life experiences while working as a Young police officer and to the stage of retirement on the rank of AIG, throughout his life as the EFCC Chairman he encountered death,  he met with humans who are agents of life termination and remained villain and has this to say:  "in the Shadow of Death I have no fear". This is the story the personally of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the  Nigerian NSA. 

Nuhu Ribadu is the name that is etched in the sands of time and is living to change Nigerian ugly security narratives. I discovered throughout His life experience at home and abroad that he is molded to be a reliably Nigerian in terms of service delivery. I'm in peace,  I have found joy in that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed him to be part of the security service Chief as National  Security Adviser (NSA).

He is a better Man to head the NSA office because he has aggregates of political and social preferences. Ribadu has experienced that the major challenge of a growing society like ours is good leadership.  This is a belief he carries till eternity.  Leadership that can give direction and make things work so that citizens will come along and play their part. This is what he has always envisaged for the Nigeria of our founding fathers. 

In that Book, Ribadu is of the better understanding that leaders ought to be fully accountable for their acts or mistakes. This is one of the attributes that made him unique and a breed of leader with a zeal to serve the common man. 

As he was the Chairman of EFCC,  fearless and focused.  He garnered the confidence and wisdom to go about his anti-corruption job without fear of favor. This is the spirit and the character Ribadu maintains to face the NSA job. 

Ribadu in that book said: 

"Friends have asked quietly in the past if I had a real concept of fear. This is a difficult question for me because my life has been full and challenging. Frankly, I don't know what the normal man calls fear. It is probably a bad thing to say, but the truth is that this is how my God has made me. I recall when Gani died in 2009 and I heard in the news that he was about to be buried, I knew I had to return to Nigeria,  even if briefly,  to pay my last respects to this great man. I knew it was a dangerous thing to do because those who made attempts at my life while I was still living in the country were still very much around and about.  But I did not have difficulty coming in at that time despite the obvious danger. 

"I just have to convince myself that this man was going to be buried and I might not have a chance to see him and I wanted to pay my respect.  It was very personal.  I didn't even want it to be public,  I felt I had to be there and possibly stand before him and pray for him and have a look at him for the last time."

He considers himself a lucky man to be appointed EFCC Boss to fight the cankerworm of corruption that has taken hold of the country.  He did it to the best of his ability,  he did that without personal rancor or scores to settle, just seeking to serve Nigeria's best interest.  He did it knowingly he was making many powerful enemies in the process. 

"I'm also lucky to be alive, twice my enemies tried to kill him and twice I narrowly escaped until I chose exile to fight another day." Ribadu. 

In one of the books also written on him (A Paradise for Maggots),  Wole Soyinka forwarded that Nuhu Ribadu is always having a mission of Promethean, his encounters eerily out of this world.

Ribadu fierce temperament when he was the EFCC Chairman was more of;" those who loot from their impoverished people to bask in sybaritic splendor deserve neither mercy nor pity"

I'm seeing double the spirit he was having while serving Nigerians as the pioneer EFCC Chairman.  He is set to face the daunting challenges of insecurity,  he is ready to fight the financier and unmask those behind Nigeria's failure of its security architecture. 

The new NSA is high-spirited and possesses the combatant threads of fighting a winning war for the Nigerian masses.  

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu desires corporations from all Nigerians to liberate us all from the chains of vendors of insecurity and those fanning it for economic reasons. 

Tom Garba is a Journalist, a political analyst, and an opinion writer. He writes from Yola-Adamawa State, and he can be reached through these means:

tomgarba7@gmail.com

08172570959