By: Muhammed Bello Buhari
So the President has conveyed—through the National Security Adviser—the promotion and retention of Col. Nurudeen A Yusuf as his ADC.
This same Col. NA Yusuf was decorated as a Colonel in January this year, making this his second promotion within twelve months.
In the Nigerian Armed Forces, elevation from Colonel to Brigadier-General requires 5 years at the rank of Colonel and attendance at the War College or the National Defence College or its equivalent.
Col. Yusuf has attended neither.
As a 52 Regular Course officer, this promotion places him senior to officers of the 50 Regular Course who have completed both colleges and are legitimately awaiting promotion.
From 1960 to date, no President’s ADC has enjoyed such an exception.
The late President Buhari’s first ADC, then Col. M.L. Abubakar (now Brig-Gen), had to disengage from his ADC appointment to attend the National Defence College before he could be considered for promotion. He remained a Colonel for five years, in line with the Armed Forces Terms and Conditions of Service.
Today, however, we have an officer who spent barely a year as a Colonel, has not met the professional requirements, yet has been elevated to Brigadier-General—and still retained to continue performing ADC duties [as a General] an arrangement that is absolutely alien to military tradition.
This is not an isolated case within the Presidency.
The Chief Personal Security Officer to the President, CP Usman Shugaba, has reportedly received three accelerated promotions in the Police, leapfrogging peers who remain CSPs, SPs, and DSPs purely on the basis of proximity to power.
Such practices may be familiar within the Police system, but they are alien to the military, where structure, seniority, and professionalism are sacrosanct.
It is therefore not surprising that the conveying letter reportedly came from the office of the NSA—a retired police officer—effectively importing police disorder into the military institution.
But the blame does not rest there. The ultimate responsibility lies with the President, who sets the tone, authorizes the exceptions, and normalizes the erosion of standards.
This is not about Col. Yusuf. This is not even about the Police or the Military. This is about a President who appears increasingly comfortable governing by favoritism, and an administration steadily converting proximity to power into a substitute for merit.
But the real concern is not the individuals. It’s the message being sent to the rank and file.
It is the silent demoralization of officers who played by the rules. It is the corrosion of trust within the ranks. It is the message that professionalism is optional if one is close enough to the throne.
When privilege overtakes process, when proximity replaces professionalism, and when rules bend for a few, the institution itself begins to rot.
A system that rewards access over merit cannot command discipline, loyalty, or trust.
This is how institutions collapse— quietly, incrementally, and from the top. And this is just one case among many.
This country. Something must give!
