General Musa, The Man After The People’s Heart • Takes Charge As Nigeria’s Defence Minister

By

Olabode Opeseitan

When General Christopher Musa was relieved of his post as Chief of Defence Staff, the sense of loss was not confined to the barracks. It rippled across the country like a silent drumbeat. His departure was met with a collective sigh, as though the nation had misplaced something precious.

Now, he returns. Not demoted, but elevated. As Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, he steps into a role that demands not just strategy but soul. And the joy that greeted his return was not merely widespread. It was ethereal. The kind of joy that floats, that lingers, that sings.

This is the rare romance between a public servant and the people he serves. A story not of spectacle, but of substance. A reunion, not just a reappointment.

Few appointees in recent memory have stirred such unguarded approval from Nigerians, who are not known for dispensing praise cheaply. Perhaps the last time the public exhaled with such relief was when Bayo Ojulari was named CEO of the NNPC, a technocrat’s technocrat, whose reputation preceded him. But even that moment was largely confined to boardrooms and policy circles.

Musa’s case is different. His new post touches the nation’s most tender nerve, security. It is a ministry that does not merely govern policy. It governs peace, presence, and the possibility of sleep.

So when the Minister’s convoy pulled into the Ministry of Defence, and the staff, both civilian and uniformed, caught sight of him, the civilians in particular did not wait for protocol. They broke into song. “Baba oyoyo,” they chanted, a chorus of welcome that was as much relief as it was reverence. Their joy was unfiltered, uncoached.

And they were not alone.

In Nigeria, if hope goes head-to-head with trends ten times, hope will return second best. Musa’s appointment was a rare moment of consensus when hope humbles despair. On social media, the reaction was electric. In a country where cynicism often trends faster than trust, this was a moment when the people chose to believe.

But this is more than a feel-good story. It is a signal. A quiet but unmistakable message to the nation’s public servants. Nigerians are watching. Most are not unfeeling. They are not unthinking. They are not irredeemably cynical. Only a few are.

They are simply waiting. For competence. For courage. For men and women who serve not for applause, but for impact.

In General Musa, they see a man who has walked the hard roads, who has borne the weight of command, and who now carries the hopes of a nation.

Musa is, indeed, the General’s General, a paragon of leadership and resolve. We extend our salute to him, even as we commend President Bola Tinubu for appointing a man so perfectly suited to the task.

*Olabode Opeseitan
Editorial Architect | Legacy Steward | Strategic Communicator

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