Public affairs commentator, Mahdi Shehu, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of acting out of political self-interest in his recent overhaul of Nigeria’s service chiefs.
In a post on his official X handle on Saturday, Shehu argued that the President’s move was not driven by the worsening security situation but by fear and self-preservation following reports of an alleged coup plot.
Quoting the Bible to back his view, Shehu wrote: “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” – James 3:16.
According to him, the verse mirrors man’s innate greed and selfishness, traits he said Tinubu has clearly displayed through his recent actions.
“The scriptural references to man’s selfishness are well narrated and documented with visible confirmation by man himself,” Shehu stated.
“Man’s greed and insatiable economic desires give further credence to his infinite capacity for selfishness.”
He accused the President of turning a blind eye to several tragic incidents across the country while retaining the same security heads. “The ongoing wanton killings nationwide did not prick Tinubu’s conscience to rejig his security architecture,” he wrote.
Shehu highlighted numerous cases where Tinubu allegedly failed to act, citing the continuous destruction of villages and mass killings in Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger, Yobe, and Borno states, along with bloody attacks in Benue, Taraba, Kogi, and Nasarawa.
“These were not enough reasons for Tinubu to summon the courage to sack the service chiefs,” he lamented.
“But the moment his brand of democracy came under what was officially denied yet unofficially confirmed as a coup, he acted swiftly and panicky.”
Shehu called the move a “coup shrouded in darkness” and left to public speculation, alleging that the President only acted decisively when his political survival was under threat.
He also faulted Tinubu’s management of the country’s economic turmoil, accusing him of keeping what he described as a “wizardly economic team” despite rising hardship.
“With 139 million Nigerians facing abject poverty and hunger, and other gory economic failures, Tinubu is yet to sack his economic team,” Shehu wrote.
He concluded that the President’s conduct again demonstrates man’s selfishness, which persists in the face of failure until death brings an end to it.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday announced a major shake-up in the nation’s security hierarchy, dismissing several service chiefs and approving new appointments.
According to a statement by his media aide, Sunday Dare, Olufemi Oluyede was named Chief of Defence Staff, replacing General Christopher Musa.
