“My relationship with Mr. President does not hinge on political appointment. Whether or not he assigns me to a particular office, my resolve to ensure that he succeeds remains unshakable. He is a person I highly respect and I am ready to support him throughout his tenure. I am not doing him a person favour, but I consider it as a duty to contribute in fixing Nigeria.”
These are the exact words of the former Nigerian Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau when he reacted to insinuation in some quarters that he was desperate about holding any political appointments under President Muhammadu Buhhari.
General Dambazzau, the first Nigeria army chief to hold a PhD degree, and currently a Senior Visiting Fellow of the Centre for Peace, Democracy and development, University of Massachusetts, Boston, as well as a fellow and Associate of the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs, Harvard University, went on: “I have immensely benefited from Nigeria after reaching the peak of my career as a General and commanded the army, and acquired the highest educational qualification (PhD), it is only reasonable to consider this opportunity as a payback time.”
Media reports had revved up information about the fact that he lost out in the quest to grab the position of National Security Adviser (NSA) in Buhari’s government, a position which was given to retired Major General Babagana Monguno, on Monday by President Muhammadu Buhari.
According if there was race for the position of NSA, he was not a contestant. “For very good reasons, people may have their expectations, but that should not be translated as mine. Of course I will be glad to work for the President if he assigned me any task or appoints me in any capacity he feels I can contribute towards the success of the government. “This is especially because I was the CPC Chairman of the Security Committee in 2011 and he personally appointed me and also in 2015 as Director, Intelligence and Security of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
“At any rate the President has the prerogative to appoint any person of his choice to any of the available positions, but in the final analysis it is God that determines who becomes what. My prayer therefore is for the Almighty God to guide President Muhammadu Buhari in this very important task of nation-building He has given him.”
General Dambazau said that he had built a very good reputation both at home and abroad which he doubted if it can be easily destroyed.
“Like I said earlier, power and wealth belong to God and He gives whomever He wishes at the time He wishes.”
Before he retired from the army as the 17th Chief of Army Staff in 2010, he was the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 2 Division, Ibadan among other top professional military posts. [myad]
