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A former chief of defence staff and retired general, Andrew Azazi, has been appointed as the new National Security Adviser.

Mr. Azazi replaces
Mohammed Aliyu Gusau who resigned his position last month to contest the
2011 presidential elections. He takes over from Kayode Are, a retired
colonel who had held the post in acting capacity after Mr. Gusau’s exit.

In a statement
yesterday, the spokesperson to President Goodluck Jonathan, Ima Niboro,
said the appointment is with immediate effect.

Rich military career

The spokesperson said Mr. Azazi joins the present “administration from a rich and illustrious career in the military”.

Mr. Azazi was the
chief of army staff and later chief of defence staff under the late
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration.

The new presidential
aide, who hails from Bayelsa State as the President, was commissioned
into the Nigeria Army as an intelligence officer and rose to the
position of Director of military intelligence, DMI, from where he was
appointed General Officer Commanding, GOC 1 Infantry Division before
becoming chief of army staff. He retired from service on August 28,
2008.

According to the
spokesperson, Mr. Jonathan thanked the outgoing acting NSA, Mr. Are, a
former director-general of the State Security Services, SSS under the
Olusegun Obasanjo administration for his services.

The appointment of
Mr. Azazi as new chief security adviser is coming a few days after a
twin bomb exploded in Abuja during activities marking the country’s 50th
anniversary celebrations. The Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta (MEND) had claimed responsibility for the bombings. However,
Mr. Jonathan blamed the attacks on a foreign terror group with local
backings.