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By Sadiq Muhammed
By any fair standard, the growing fixation of Nasir El‑Rufai on the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has crossed the line from opposition politics into something far less dignified,a small minded personal warfare.
Opposition, in a democracy, is meant to be about ideas, policies, and alternatives. It is supposed to challenge the government of Bola Tinubu on insecurity, the economy, governance, and the direction of the country. But what Nigerians are seeing instead is El-Rufai reducing serious national debates to a one-man vendetta against Ribadu as if the NSA is the government.
That is both misleading and intellectually dishonest. The NSA is not an elected authority, he is an appointee serving at the pleasure of the president. If El-Rufai has issues with security failures, then his quarrel should be with the policies, strategies, and political leadership of the administration, not a single official turned into a punching bag for political frustration.
This pattern is not new. El-Rufai has always preferred to personalize conflict rather than engage institutions. He did it repeatedly during his time in power, and even carried this habit beyond the grave,taking cheap, unnecessary swipes at the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a man who can no longer respond. That alone speaks volumes about his political temperament.
What we are witnessing now looks less like principled dissent and more like a calculated attempt to whip up sentiment: create a villain, focus all anger on him, and hope the public forgets that the real target should be the government as a whole. It is an old tactic personalize a problem so that structural questions disappear. But Nigeria’s crises are too deep, and our security challenges too complex, for this kind of political theatre.
If El-Rufai wants to be taken seriously as a national opposition figure, he must rise above grudges and ego battles. Nigeria does not need another loud personality war, it needs clear alternatives, sober criticism, and ideas that can actually improve the lives and safety of its people.
Turning Nuhu Ribadu into a political punching bag may earn a few headlines, but it does nothing for democracy and even less for Nigeria.
Muhammed can be reached at [email protected]
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