In settling for Sambo Dasuki as the new National Security Adviser (NSA), President Goodluck Jonathan has tactfully put the search for a solution to the Boko Haram menace on the laps of the Nigerian Muslim leadership.

The position of NSA is a sensitive one usually held by very senior military chiefs and their counterparts from the Department of State Security (State Security Service).

Sambo is a retired army colonel who once served as Aide de Camp (ADC) to former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd). He is the son of Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, who deposed as Sultan of Sokoto by late military dictator, General Sani Abacha. His uncle, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, is the incumbent Sultan of Sokoto and head of the Nigerian Muslim community.

Apart from being a northerner, Sambo is well connected to the northern power blocs both by birth and by association. It is therefore believed that he would be able to solve the Boko Haram crisis since the terrorist group is believed to enjoy the support of the northern leadership despite to regain political control of the control.

“Don’t also forget that Sambo is from Sokoto, which is the head of the Caliphate and has remained a no-go area for Boko Haram,” said one analyst.

A former Managing Director of Security Printing & Minting Company Limited, Sambo attended both American Universities, Washington DC and George Washington University where he obtained a BA in International Relations and MA in Security Policy Studies respectively.

He had his military training in several institutions in Nigeria and abroad including the Nigerian Army School of Artillery, Oklahoma, US Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth Kansas.
Sambo was last night announced as the replacement for Owoeye Azazi, a retired army general and President Jonathan’s Ijaw kinsman who took office in October 2010 but never found a solution to the Boko Haram attacks, which have claimed over a thousand lies and put a huge question mark on Nigeria’s unity.