National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, last week, betrayed a rather worrying disposition for a prime government official in his present station. The sensitive office he occupies, which straddles the realms of security, politics and diplomacy, makes such lack of restraint in the public, as the NSA exhibited, a cause for concern.
Ribadu has been known, in the past, to be emotional and free-spirited in expressions, even in the public arena. He speaks from the heart. That comes with its own problems. His recent futile attempt to deploy bravado to obliterate one of his widely reported public comments in the past, which emphatically indicted some politically-exposed individuals, ought to have taught him a lesson, on the need to hold back. It does not appear that he has grasped the lesson, so far.
Some years back, while appearing at a public forum somewhere in Europe, in a gathering on the need for international cooperation in the fight against corruption, Ribadu made a detailed and characteristically passionate presentation, touching especially on the depth of corruption in Nigeria. He was graphic and as passionate as ever. He talked about the decay in the Nigerian system and how powerful persons in government and politics, oil the engine of sleaze. He vowed his commitment to the fight against corruption, even if it cost him his life. His audience felt his passion. He probably has not changed within. His station has, however, changed, remarkably. Ribadu is presently Nigeria’s National Security Adviser. His boss and president of the Federal Republic is Bola Tinubu. That is for the record.
Last week, at a public event in Abuja, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa, in the course of a presentation, revealed that he and some of his men would have been away in Canada, but they were denied visa by the Canadian Embassy. The National Security Adviser, instantly went ballistic at the information. He bluntly blurted out that Canada “can go to hell”
Anger is a natural emotion, especially when one feels unfairly treated. For a man who speaks his mind, Ribadu’s reaction reflected his hurt at the incident. But then, what are the facts? Before Canada is condemned and consigned by the National Security Adviser, to go to hell, it is only proper and fair to establish what went wrong and who did what?
Ribadu was, obviously, hearing for the first time, of the rejection of visa to the CDS, at the public event. He definitely had no prior facts about the development. His reaction could have been more restrained. That is not to deny that Nigeria, or any other country, has every right to express displeasure at any slight by another.
In his present station, however, the NSA ought to be a consummate intelligence officer and a diplomat. Restraint, even in the face of provocation, broad consultations, adherence to protocol, devotion to details, and uncompromising attachment to efficiency, should be key ingredients that define the culture and spirit of the office Ribadu currently occupies. It does not appear he reckoned much with any of those attributes in his instant pronouncement of judgement on Canada.
Flaring up and telling off a friendly nation to go to hell, for not issuing travel documents to some personnel of your government, without first getting to the root of the debacle, is, not a constructive strategy for better future engagements. It is, at best, a blunder.
Interestingly, the Chief of Defence Staff did not throw much light on details of the trip he had intended to make. He only offered that part of his team had travelled ahead of him. In other words, the same Canadian Embassy had granted visa to a part of the CDS’s team. It turned out that the trip was to attend the Invictus Games for military veterans. As usual, Nigeria was said to have forwarded a list of a large contingent, purportedly going for the game.
A critical question here becomes, was the Chief of Defence Staff’s travel document application part and parcel of the larger pack of applications for the team? Could it have been that there was no distinction in the invitation for him and that of the veterans? This question is germane to what transpired at the Embassy. Under normal circumstances, the Canada Embassy ought to have been informed, upfront, about the travel application for the CDS, his aides or accompanying officers, with their details. Of course, the games were for veterans, most of who were impaired in service. The Embassy would be mindful of the number of able-bodied serving officers applying to troop out for the veterans’ games. These are issues.
This brings up the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dimension. The Chief of Defence Staff is, by every reckoning, a prominent state official. Processing his travel documents ought, ordinarily, to be handled by his protocol details, working in tandem with the Foreign Affairs Ministry. All heads of MDAs are accorded this privilege. ‘Note verbale’ from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, usually accompanies any such request for visa, for official trips. Even lower cadre officers (a limited number of persons, though) travelling with their bosses often enjoy this cover. Was such request made by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, in the case of the CDS and yet Canada turned down the application? That will be most unlikely.
Nigeria has become a land of aberrations. It operates in an era where its presidents embark on foreign trips, with all the resources of the state and paraphernalia of office, yet call the trips “private”. And the trips pass as that. The truth, however, is that there is hardly a private trip by functionaries of the state at a certain level. The Chief of Defence Staff falls into this category. The hope is that the head of Nigeria’s military did not set out to travel to a foreign country on a “private trip”, or as a member of a contingent, without the appropriate protocol followed.
It will be remiss of all Nigerian institutions concerned, if the arrangement for a trip by the Chief of Defence Staff was not meticulously handled. For God’s sake, this is the man at the helm of Nigeria’s military hierarchy. His movement ought to be handled with utmost sensitivity. His counterpart in Canada ought to have been informed of his visit, whatever the nature of the visit. The assumption is that his visa application was separated, ab initio from those of the crowd.
So far, the Canadian Embassy in Abuja has not said what went wrong with the CDS’s application. That is not uncommon with diplomatic missions.
Setting aside Ribadu’s outburst, it is likely, that the problem that marred Gen. Musa’s travel arrangement at the Canadian Embassy, had to do with administrative tardiness. The refusal by many Nigerians, especially the big men and those around them, to come to terms with the reality that things are done differently in better-organized societies, remains a recipe for embarrassment. There is a very limited band for arbitrariness in better organized and disciplined countries and their bureaucracy.
Then, there is the big elephant in the house, which the government and its propagandists, continue to live in denial of, to their detriment. Nigeria is presently in a very bad shape. Life has become short and brutish therein. The embassies and their home countries know the prevailing sorry state of the country. Every embassy in Nigeria, especially those of the developed countries, perceive majority of Nigerians, at the moment, as folks searching for the slightly opportunity to flee their country. The embassies know the quantum of visa applications they deal with every month.
Fleeing Nigeria has become a primary prayer point for many citizens, at night vigils and fasting sessions. Therefore, to throw in hundred visa applications, or thereabout, at the Embassy of Canada, at this point in time, in the name of prospective participants in a military game for veterans and expect visa approval for all, was unrealistic. Neither Canada, nor any developed economy will approve such large application. That is a reflection of Nigeria’s present reality. It is not a matter of “go to hell”
There are messages for Nigeria in most of these unpleasant experiences. One of the basic messages is for the country to get its acts together. That is about the only means through which a country and its citizens are accorded respect internationally. There is nothing like a respected president or general of a shambolic country.
In his angry remark on the Canada visa incident, NSA Ribadu expressed a patriotic hope that incidents such as this should spur Nigeria to work harder, so as to stand firmly on its feet. Fair enough. Standing on your feet is, however, one thing. Moving in the right direction is, another.
In the final analysis, it may be high time that people started being sent to hell for the damage variously done to Nigeria, including exposing her to ridicule before the world. In truth, however, there is no basis for Canada to go to hell for the administrative and governmental inadequacies of Nigeria.