Chief Osita Chidoka, a former Minister of Aviation, has criticized former President Muhammadu Buhari for what he is said to have done to Nigeria’s security system by appointing service heads based on family ties.
Chidoka says that it will take many years for the country to get back on its feet after Buhari’s eight years in power.
Chidoka, who is also a former Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps, talked about this on Wednesday during a TV interview that our reporter watched.
“The country’s security is in a terrible state. During the eight years that former President Mohammadu Buhari was in charge, it got worse because of the way he picked service chiefs.
“He broke up the security services, and I think it will take a long time for us to get back on our feet.
“But if you go back in time before his time, you will find that the biggest problem is that we have made our security agencies into places where the boys, our constituents, and our friends can get jobs.”
According to Chidoka, “people who are not smart enough to run our security agencies” hold the top positions in the police, army, and Department of State Services.
“If you look at the police budget, you’ll see that 90 percent goes to pay salaries and only 4 or 5 percent is left for hiring new people.
“This means they have to find other ways to meet their important needs. This has caused security to break down, which is not just a problem in the South-East,” he said.
Garba Shehu, who is Buhari’s spokesman, couldn’t be reached because his phone wasn’t picking up and he hadn’t responded to a text message as of press time.