By Sonia Odita
The overwhelming jubilation by officers and men of the Nigerian Army in Kaduna shortly after the name of General Christopher Gwabin Musa was announced on June 19, 2023 as Nigeria’s newest and 18th Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) was a humongous confirmation that he is one officer generally loved, especially by those who are conversant with his service trajectory over the years. He was serving in Kaduna as Commander, Nigerian Army Infantry Corps when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed him to succeed General Lucky Irabor who served as the immediate past Chief of Defense Staff.
Interestingly, some Nigerians who have followed Musa’s service performances over the years have come out openly to appreciate President Tinubu for considering him for such position. Few days after the announcement of Musa’s appointment, a North-East-based group, the North-East Peace Advocacy has hailed the President for choosing Major General Christopher Musa to succeed Gen. Lucky Irabor as the new Chief of Defence Staff.
In a press statement signed by the group’s convener, Bukar Adamu, the Advocacy group while commending Tinubu for the appointment, emphasized that “the appointment is an indication of the administration’s willingness to decisively deal with all forms of criminality in the country. The release had added that General Musa’s tenure as Force Commander, Operation HADIN KAI, helped to restore the peace in the North-East region and those displaced returned home.
“The North-East Peace Advocacy Group, therefore, commends President Bola Tinubu for this worthy appointment. We are elated by the elevation of Major-General Christopher Gwabin Musa to the highly coveted Chief of Defence Staff seat. It is a position that caps all his excellent performance in the various offices he has held in the service to his fatherland. During his tenure in the North-East, our people had cause to smile as they witnessed the return to their various means of livelihood. People who were displaced started returning home. During his tenure also witnessed the massive surrender of terrorists who could no longer bear the intensity of military operations,” it remarked
This commendation from the advocacy group was not a mere grandstanding as evidence abounds, testifying to the achievements of General Musa while he commanded some sections of the Nigerian Army. As Theatre Commander, North-East Joint Operation, HADIN KAI, Major General Christopher Musa, at a time, a total of 1,893, terrorists were being detained at the Centre for Prosecution while another 323 terrorists, who willingly gave up their arms to embrace peace, were undergoing De-Radicalization, Demobilization and Rehabilitation (DDR) programme in Gombe State. Within the period, no fewer than 82,237 terrorists and their family members had surrendered to troops in various locations in the North East since July 2021. Out of the surrendered persons, 16,577 were reportedly active male fighters, 24,499 were women, and 41,161 are children.
It was interesting to note that information obtained from detailed debriefings of the surrendered terrorists were being continually factored into the operations of the Theatre. Such debriefings were routinely undertaken as more fighters continued to surrender in their numbers. Also, the commencement of a comprehensive Disarmament, De-radicalization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration programme by the Borno State government, in conjunction with International Organizations and Op Safe Corridor, was earmarked to positively encourage the surrender of more persons and would certainly be a catalyst to enduring peace in the region.
Under General Musa’s command of Operation HADIN KAI, a total of 180 out of the 276 kidnapped Chibok school girls in 2014, were rescued while 96 of the girls were still unaccounted for. On the whole 2,018 abducted persons, comprising 339 adult males, 660 adult females and 1,019 children in the previous year were rescued. The statistics of the 276 abducted Chibok School girls indicated that 57 girls escaped in 2014, 107 girls were released in 2018; three recovered in 2019; two recovered in 2021 and 11 girls rescued so far in 2022.
Born on 25 December 1967 in Sokoto in the defunct North-Western State (now in Sokoto State) the CDS hails from Zangon Kataf, in Southern Kaduna State. In his early days, he was brought up in Sokoto where in 1974, he was enrolled at Marafa Danbaba Primary School Sokoto and later left to Model Primary School Dorowa Road Sokoto in 1978 where he remained until 1980. Briefly after leaving Primary School, he went for a one-year training in a Vocational Training Centre in Gaummi, Sokoto between 1980 and 1981.
In 1981, he was enrolled into Federal Government College, Sokoto. He completed his secondary school education at the College where he sat for the West African School Certificate Examination in 1985. While at the College, he was part of the National Cadet Corps. Thereafter, he was admitted to the College of Advanced Studies, Zaria, and was there until 1986.
In 1986, Musa was enrolled into the Nigerian Defence Academy, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science (Hons) on graduation in 1991 and got commissioned into the Nigerian Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. In September same year (1991), he enrolled as a member of the 38th Regular Course 21 in the Nigerian Defence Academy and undertook a Mechanical Transportation Officers Course in 1992.
In 1993, he went through the Young Officers Course in Infantry, the Regimental Signal Officers Course in 1998, and 2000, a Junior Course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji. Between 2004 and 2005, he went through a Senior Course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji. Between 2007 and 2008, he earned an Advanced Diploma in Security Management from Institute of Security, University of Lagos.
As continuous training is traditionally a practice in the military with a view to being abreast with contemporary trends, between 2012 and 2013, Musa attended an Advanced Diploma in Defence and Strategies Course, and subsequently a Masters of Science (Military Science) degree programme at the International College of Defense Studies, National Defense University (ICDS-NDU), Changping, China. In 2017, he went through a Combined Joint Land Component Commander’s Course on Leadership, US Army War College.
Over the years, Christopher Musa had functioned in different capacities in the military holding very important positions where he excelled and was recognized in the public space and ultimately attracted to himself the conferment of a national award of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) from Nigeria’s President. At one time, he was the General Staff Officer 1, Training/Operations at HQ 81 Division. He also held the positions of Commanding Officer 73 Battalion, Assistant Director Operational Requirements at Department of Army Policy and Plans, Infantry Representative/Member Training Team at HQ Nigerian Army Armour Corps.
In 2019, he was also the Deputy Chief, Staff Training/Operations, headquarters Infantry Centre and Corps, Commander Sector 3 Operation Lafiya Dole, Commander Sector 3 Multinational Joint Task Force in the Lake Chad Region. In 2021, he was the Theatre Commander, Operation Hadin Kai from where he became Commander, Nigerian Army Infantry Corps before his appointment in June, 2023 as the Chief of Defense Staff.
With such pedigree, any discerning mind could easily understand that baring any hindrances, that the sky would literarily not only be General Musa’s limit as he was fished out like a Golden fish who does not have hiding place, to assume the position of Nigeria’s Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) at a time the country is battling with so many centrifugal forces that are capable of rocking the nation’s boat. The forces find expression in the decade long insurgency in the Northern part of the country, kidnapping across the nation, armed banditry in parts of the country, cultism, crude oil theft through the Nigerian waters and so many other security challenges.
If the words of General Musa’s immediate past predecessor, Lt. General Lucky Irabor on the day of hand over were anything to go by, one can safely say that Nigerians have nothing to worry about the operational efficiency and administrative orderliness of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) under the leadership of General Christopher Musa as the Chief of Defense Staff. At the event, while urging his successor to ensure that the value and professional standards of the military were upheld, General Irabor said he had handed over to a tested and trusted officer who, by all standards, a model for the armed forces.
In his words, “I appreciate the president for finding Major-General Musa very suitable to take over the reins of the Armed Forces. I ask that you redouble your efforts so that the cherished values and professional standard be maintained.” He added that quite a lot had been achieved and was confident that the armed forces were in the right mood to achieve set targets. “Looking at the mood of the armed forces, they will help you and your team of service chiefs to ensure that the professional standard of the armed forces is retained,” Irabor told Musa.
Such an uncommon endorsement by a predecessor is the tonic the new Chief of Defense Staff needs to re-assure himself that his choice was not a pedestrian affair but something that had gone through military and political crucibles to arrive at, with his predecessor possibly a major contributor to his emergence given certain parameters associated with such a decision of national and international importance.
This, the new CDS ostensibly has understood this, when he reiterated the determination of the military under his leadership to go after terrorists, bandits and other criminals in full force. He assured that the military under his command would go all out to ensure that Nigeria is secured. In his words, he had said at the hand over that “As the Chief Defense of Staff, my promise to Nigeria is that we will continue to improve on our mandate of sustaining peace and tranquility in our country. I will assure every Nigerian to feel safe that the armed forces are up and doing and are highly professional and will be there for them.”
With some benefit of hindsight as a military officer who had traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria’s security space, General Musa had assured that “nobody should doubt our determination to bring peace to Nigeria, and anybody, especially the criminals, bandits, terrorists who thinks otherwise, should be ready to face the music. Audaciously, he had promised that the Nigerian Armed Forces will come out in full force while safeguarding the safety and security of the citizenry.
It is interesting to note that General Musa has performed creditably well in the first major international assignment involving member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) following the recent coup de tact in Niger Republic. Leading the Chiefs of Defense Staff from no fewer than fourteen other ECOWAS countries in a two-day meeting in Abuja, General Musa was able to coordinate a very successful meeting that holistically deliberated on the crisis Niger. Contrary to the earlier position of the ECOWAS heads of states and government which tended towards the use of force to remove the military junta that toppled the democratic government of President Mohamed Baloum, General Musa and his colleagues were able to take a populist decision which opted for diplomatic solution instead of the use force.
To the discerning public and reputed public affairs analysts, General Musa by this decision of the ECOWAS Chiefs of Defense Staff had demonstrated that even though he owes President Bola Tinubu loyalty as his commander-in-chief, the interest and sovereignty of Nigeria is over and above any other consideration. His action has demonstrated that professionally, he has a mind of his own and cannot be misdirected by presidential whims that are not in sync with the national interest of Nigeria. There is no doubt that the CDS certainly has more good things to offer Nigeria in the days ahead.
