The dissonance, the meddling, the pettiness within the top echelon of our security architecture or framework, the shoddiness, the tardiness, the lack of a coherent strategy and the inability to implement a strategy if one does exist, is the reason why all of Nigeria is now at the mercy of bandits, terrorists, arsonists, kidnappers and killer herdsmen.

In the memo, Monguno calls out President Muhammadu Buhari’s overbearing Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, and labels him a meddlesome interloper--the kind of man who summons meetings well above his pay grade. 

“It should be noted that the Chief of Staff to the president does not direct security apparatus of the Federal Republic of Nigeria — his job as it relates to security stops at conveying Mr. President’s written directives,” Monguno wrote of Kyari, before asking security chiefs to shun meetings summoned by Kyari. 

“Similarly, you are reminded that the Chief of Staff to the president is not a presiding head of security, neither is he sworn to an oath of defending the country.

“As such, unprofessional practices such as presiding over meetings with service chiefs and heads of security organisations as well as ambassadors and high commissioners to the exclusion of the NSA and/or supervising ministers are a violation of the constitution and directly undermine the authority of Mr President.

“Such acts and continuous meddlesomeness by the Chief of Staff have not only ruptured our security and defence efforts but have slowed down any meaningful gain that Mr. President has sought to achieve.

“It is therefore detrimental to our collective security that the Chief of Staff who is a non-supervising minister holds meetings with diplomats, security chiefs and heads of agencies.

“Pursuant to the foregoing, you are by this letter directed to desist from these illegal acts that serve nothing but the continuous undermining of our national security framework. Any breach of this directive will attract the displeasure of Mr President,” Monguno wrote. 

A lot has been said about Kyari and how he shuffles round Aso Rock like he owns the darn place, because, come to think of it, he probably does.

Alongside President Buhari’s infamous nephew, Mamman Daura, Kyari has long been accused of heading the presidency cabal that practically runs the Buhari administration behind the scenes.

In fact, the president’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, did confirm late last year that this cabal does exist. 

“Every president must have people who advise him. It is not a sin, it is not an offence to have people that you take into confidence,” Shehu said. 

“Elsewhere, they call it ‘kitchen cabinet,’ but in our own country, we are being derogatory and we term them cabals so that it will tarnish their own good standing.”

That Kyari and other members of this cabal or ‘kitchen cabinet’ have not been warned not to overstep their bounds and to stop dabbling in the affairs of professionals assigned to manage Nigeria’s security, is a subject matter for another day. 

That it is taking the NSA to call Kyari and his ilk to order, shows you how much this clique has held President Buhari hostage.

What Monguno’s memo tells us is that neither the security chiefs nor the Commander-in-Chief have got a handle on how to get us out of the security mess we’ve been enmeshed. 

That the NSA could address that kind of memo to the CoS, while warning the security chiefs about attending meetings called by Kyari is an indictment on the security chiefs and the C-in-C. That it is taking the NSA to remind the service chiefs about their jobs and roles, further exposes the Buhari presidency as a sick joke and the C-in-C as grossly incompetent, clueless or both. 

President Buhari has been summoning security and intelligence meetings with his service chiefs every other month for some 5 years now. Is he aware that Kyari has been summoning parallel meetings? Are the security chiefs taking orders from Buhari or Kyari? Who is running Nigeria?

What feedback does the president receive from his security chiefs? Does he trust these men to keep Nigerians safe..to do his bidding? Why is he finding it difficult to relieve these men of their jobs in the face of rising insecurity across the land?

Monguno’s leaked memo exposes the underbelly and cracks within the Buhari presidency and further strengthens First Lady Aisha Buhari’s allegation that the affairs of our nation have long been ceded to a selfish, uncontrollable cabal. 

It is little wonder that the nation’s security architecture is in such shambles.