Daily Trust Editorial, Monday May 18, 2026
On Monday, May 11, 2026, President Bola Tinubu approved the appointment of Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa (rtd) as Special Adviser on Homeland Security (SAHS). A circular by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume, and issued by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, said: “The appointment underscores the commitment of the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu to strengthening internal security coordination, enhancing intelligence-driven operations, and deepening inter-agency collaboration in addressing emerging security threats across the country.”
Part of the statement by the SGF’s office touted the new Special Adviser’s credentials, saying: “Major General Famadewa (Rtd) is a highly decorated retired General with over three decades of distinguished military and intelligence service spanning national security strategy, intelligence fusion, counter-terrorism operations, and international security diplomacy. His career reflects a rare blend of operational excellence, strategic foresight, and institutional leadership in safeguarding Nigeria’s territorial integrity and national interests. Smart Video
“As Principal General Staff Officer to the National Security Adviser at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) from 2015 to 2021, he played a pivotal role in shaping Nigeria’s modern intelligence coordination framework. He spearheaded the establishment of the Intelligence Fusion Centre (IFC) at ONSA, creating an integrated multi-agency intelligence platform that brought together the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force, and the Armed Forces to improve national threat assessment and strategic response coordination.
“Following his retirement from active military service, Major General Famadewa (Rtd) served as Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Abuja, where he continued to provide strategic thought leadership on policing, civil-security cooperation, and national security reform. His scholarly contributions include the widely acclaimed monograph titled ‘Policing and National Security in Nigeria,’ which offers practical frameworks for strengthening civil-security collaboration.”
Obviously, the novel SAHS office will function from a dedicated federal-level structure focused on internal security, intelligence coordination, and inter-agency collaboration — functions already being handled by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), led by Malam Nuhu Ribadu. Many Nigerians are perplexed by the seeming duplication of functions.
What is clear, however, is that the functions of the envisaged Homeland Security Adviser dovetail into the mandate of the NSA, which is constitutionally recognised in Paragraph 25, Item K, Part I of the Third Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution. The position is also supported by the National Security Agencies Act, Part I, Section 2(1) of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011, as amended in 2013, and the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, which define its operational functions.
The Act also gives the ONSA the mandate to “ensure the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive Counter-Terrorism Strategy and build capacity for the effective discharge of the functions of relevant security, intelligence, law enforcement and military services.”
By virtue of the above provisions, the NSA is a statutory member of the Presidency, the National Security Council and the Federal Executive Council (FEC), saddled with advising the president on matters concerning intelligence activities and making recommendations to him on issues of national security.
Now that President Tinubu has used presidential discretion to create another advisory role in the security architecture, what is needed is synergy among the principal actors for millions of Nigerians yearning for safety to see verifiable results.
Daily Trust therefore demands an immediate, clear and firm redefinition and delineation of mandates, including coordination responsibilities, strengthening of integration mechanisms, and clarification of strategic oversight functions between the ONSA and the Office of the SAHS, within the law, before they become a focus of rivalry. This is very important, as both offices draw personnel from the same intelligence, military, law enforcement and paramilitary services pool. There should be no ambiguity in mandate, as Nigeria urgently requires harmonisation of focus, especially since their effectiveness rests on clear collaboration and the avoidance of bureaucratic overlap.
We implore the two advisers to complement each other in implementing a purpose-driven strategy to aid troops in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, while helping to push the execution of soft-approach strategies that tackle poverty, social injustice, isolation and other causes of insurgency, while also getting all tiers of government to accelerate economic development. Towards this, they should close their ears to politics and develop the synergy needed to secure Nigeria. After all, they hold their positions in trust to deliver the same goal under the President.
Daily Trust also cautions that the new office must not become just another layer in an already dense and fragmented security architecture. It must not amount to another addition to the excessive proliferation of roughly 29 core security-related Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), alongside perhaps another 30 institutions tangentially exercising one form of security mandate or another. Rather, we implore the Presidency to use this opportunity to streamline “homeland” security functions already sitting constitutionally, legally or administratively within the ONSA and the Ministries of Defence, Interior and Police Affairs.
What Nigeria must avoid at all costs, especially amid escalating insecurity, is an overcrowded architecture of MDAs with overlapping mandates, weak coordination, fragmented intelligence, bureaucratic rivalry, duplication of functions and diffusion of accountability. There should be no more parallel authorities working at cross purposes, duplicating efforts and competing for presidential access.
We join millions of Nigerians in demanding improved coordination of security initiatives and enhanced intelligence integration towards attaining national security objectives for the wellbeing of the nation.