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If performance in office as a president is determined by the astuteness of a politician or the number of political appointments one has received; or if it were to be determined by one’s intimidating profile, then, Aliyu Mohammed Gusau perfectly fits the bill.
He is a member of the Northern establishment; a man who has held security-related positions in the past and has a web of connections across the country. Gusau has also had a hand in installing past military heads of state Nigeria.
Although he has not openly declared his intention to contest the presidential election next year, sources close to him have indicated that there was such a plan in the offing.
While in March 2014, at the height of the Boko Haram onslaught, Gusau was appointed the Defence minister by the then president Goodluck Jonathan. While he was being sworn in, he said: “The challenges are evidently daunting but surmountable; with the help of almighty Allah and our collective resolve and determination we will get to the destination that will give Nigerians the confidence that the country is indeed a safe place for everyone.”
According to him, “reading through the hand over notes, I carefully looked at the structure of the ministry of Defence, including the detail of its institutions, I have also studied the responsibilities of the various units and manpower dispositions both in the civil and military.”
“The ministry has recorded remarkable successes in some areas and they can do much better in others, I applaud the achievements of the past and look forward to adding our modest contribution in the months ahead.”
Ordinarily, for people like Gusau, the Nigeria project is just a “routine assignment”. He has been around. He knows and understands the system very well, but Nigeria remains ever stunted in its growth.
At the time he was appointed to do battle with the Boko Haram, a pundit had expressed pessimism over the possibility of Gusau putting the Boko Haram to rout, saying his political ambition was capable of limiting his capabilities in his new assignment. At that time, there were indications that Gusau was nursing presidential ambition.
“If Gusau had not been a politician; or let me say, if he were not still nursing any political ambition, and remained only a professional soldier, though in retirement, he would have excelled on his current job, but because he will still go back to the people of North someday to canvass their votes for Presidency, he will definitely not bite with the venom expected of him to check the insurgency. What we are likely to see is a lukewarm attitude to the fight. This may be a personal opinion, but at the end of the day, I may be vindicated. Do you know why? Buhari remains an idol to many people in the North because they see him as one who protects their interest. So, let nobody think Gusau has come to crush Boko Haram with a sledge hammer,” the pundit, who craved anonymity, said.
The analyst had also advised Gusau to approach his job with an attitude to break new grounds and not dwelling on past successes.
“One of the major problems in Nigeria is the ‘superman attitude’ people bring on their new job. The minister must see his new job as a fresh challenge; at least, until his appointment this month he had not held the post before. He may have been many things in the past, but definitely not a minister of defence. The habit of many Nigerians is ‘Oh, I have done it before’ and as a result they forget to look at the new challenge being presented and how to rejig their operations for effective result,” the analyst said.
Gusau is not new to public office. For instance, during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, he was saddled with a special assignment – to go after the public funds looted by past governments from treasury.
An observer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told BDSUNDAY that Nigeria under another retired soldier may not leave the third world status for first going by the present experience.
“I am afraid if Nigeria has or can make reasonable progress with another retired soldier being at the helm of affairs as president. With what we have seen in the last three years or so, I am not very optimistic. Their mindset is always quite different from ours; I may be wrong but that’s the impression they have given us,” the observer said.
The man Gusau
Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, born May 18 1943, is a retired lieutenant-general who served in many senior level security, defence, and military roles. He served as minister of defence, as national security adviser to two different presidents, chief of Army Staff, headed different intelligence agencies, and was commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy.
He was born in Gusau, Zamfara State. The army added his birthplace to his name, making “Aliyu Mohammed Gusau”, to distinguish him from another General Aliyu Mohammed. Although Aliyu does not himself use “Gusau” in his name, it has been widely adopted by the media. He enrolled as an officer cadet at the NDA in 1964 and was commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1967.
Military career
He was Commander of 9 Infantry brigade, Abeokuta (April 1976 – July 1978), Adjutant General of 2 Mechanised Division (July 1978 – September 1979) and Director of Personnel Services, Army Headquarters (October 1979 – November 1979).
From November 1979 to December 1983 Aliyu was Director of Military Intelligence (DMI). He played an important role in the coup that ousted President Shehu Shagari on 31 December 1983 and brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power. Following the coup, he was proposed as overall head of Intelligence, with the support of Chief of Army Staff Ibrahim Babangida, but the appointment was opposed by Buhari. Buhari confirmed Shagari’s appointee Muhammadu Lawal Rafindadi as director of the National Security Organisation (NSO), and dismissed Aliyu from the DMI, replacing him with Colonel Halilu Akilu. Aliyu was sent on a training course at the Royal College of Defence Studies in Britain.
Aliyu was a player in the coup of 27 August 1985, when Babangida replaced Buhari. In the lead-up, due to the influence he had acquired as DMI, Aliyu was placed under intense surveillance and in turn placed pressure on the coup leaders to act swiftly.
After the coup, Aliyu was appointed Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Acting Director-General of the NSO from September 1985 to August 1986, then Coordinator on National Security from August 1986 to December 1989. He reorganised the security and intelligence apparatuses, which had fallen in disarray under Rafindadi during the Buhari regime, breaking up the NSO into three organisations: State Security Services (SSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI).
Aliyu was appointed General Officer Commanding 2 Mechanised Division, Ibadan (December 1989 – August 1990) and Chief of Administration, Defence Headquarters, Lagos (August 1990 to February 1992). He was Commandant of the NDA, Kaduna from February 1992 to January 1993. Aliyu became National Security Advisor in January 1993, and was promoted to Army chief when Babangida passed control to the short-lived civilian government of the Third Republic in August 1993.
As soon as General Sani Abacha had consolidated power in November 1993 he replaced Aliyu by Chris Alli as chief of army staff. Retiring from the army, Aliyu became chairman & chief executive of Alpha Public Affairs Consultancy from December 1993 until recalled as NSA by the newly elected President Olusegun Obasanjo in May 1999.
Fourth Republic
With wide influence in both civilian and military circles, Aliyu played a central role in ensuring that the transition to democracy in May 1999 went smoothly. Aliyu was the National Security Advisor in the crucial period when former political office holders in the armed forces were retired in June 1999, helping Obasanjo assume control of the armed forces as a civilian President. He remained National Security Advisor during most of Obasanjo’s presidency. He left office to compete in the 2006 People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primaries for presidential candidate, coming third. The winner, Umaru Yar’Adua, went on to be elected president.
On 8 March 2010, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan announced that he was removing Major-General Sarki Mukhtar as National Security Adviser and replacing him with Aliyu. A few days later, Aliyu met with the service chiefs in Abuja to discuss the Jos crisis and the security situation in the country. There were rumours that a review of senior army and police assignments could be underway. In April 2010, it was announced that Aliyu would seek nomination to be a candidate in the 2011 Presidential election under the PDP platform. This effort was frustrated through a Northern Consensus Candidature bid which he lost to Atiku Abubakar (Turakin Adamawa).
