ABUJA — In a major structural overhaul of the nation's intelligence apparatus, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the landmark appointment of Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa (Rtd) as the Special Adviser on Homeland Security. This appointment marks a significant turning point in Nigeria's administrative history, representing the first time a dedicated homeland security portfolio has been established at the federal level.

The decision was officially communicated via a formal circular signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, and made public by the Permanent Secretary of the General Services Office, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana. According to the presidency, the creation of the office underlines the administration's aggressive commitment to dismantling security silos, strengthening internal security coordination, and enforcing intelligence-driven multi-agency operations to counter modern asymmetric threats.

An Elite Background in Intelligence Fusion

Major General Famadewa (Rtd) steps into this historic role backed by more than three decades of highly decorated military and intelligence service. His extensive career spans national security strategy formulation, frontline counter-terrorism operations, and international security diplomacy, earning him deep respect across West Africa's defense circles.

Between 2015 and 2021, Famadewa served as the Principal General Staff Officer (PGSO) to the National Security Adviser at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). During this crucial period, he became the primary architect of Nigeria's modern intelligence-sharing infrastructure. He successfully masterminded the establishment of the Intelligence Fusion Centre (IFC) at ONSA, a groundbreaking platform that brought together rival and siloed intelligence agencies into a single room. The IFC successfully unified data pipelines from:

  • The Department of State Services (DSS)

  • The National Intelligence Agency (NIA)

  • The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA)

  • The Nigeria Police Force (NPF)

  • The Armed Forces of Nigeria

This integration drastically optimized real-time national threat assessments, laying the foundational blueprint for the broader homeland security doctrine he is now tasked with scaling nationally.

Challenging the "Military-First" Doctrine

Following his formal retirement from active military service, Famadewa refused to step away from security sector reform, taking up a position as a Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) in Abuja.

At the resource center, he established himself as a prominent intellectual reformer, authoring the widely acclaimed monograph “Policing and National Security in Nigeria.” In his academic and public writings, Famadewa has long been critical of Nigeria’s heavy over-reliance on deployment of the Armed Forces for internal policing duties. He has consistently advocated for a multi-dimensional, society-wide approach, arguing that sustainable stability can only be achieved when civil law enforcement, community intelligence, and military defense function under a unified command structure.

The Mandate Under the Renewed Hope Agenda

The creation of this pioneer office represents a tactical departure from Nigeria's traditional security architecture, which has historically concentrated advisory functions almost exclusively within the broader NSA framework. Security analysts view the move as an attempt to replicate robust post-9/11 domestic security frameworks such as the United States Department of Homeland Security or the United Kingdom’s Home Office which explicitly separate external defense from domestic threat mitigation.

President Tinubu expressed absolute confidence that Famadewa's operational foresight and deep institutional knowledge will successfully steer the country toward proactive risk management. The president explicitly charged the new Special Adviser to deploy his vast background in inter-agency diplomacy to smooth over lingering turf wars between federal security agencies, thereby accelerating the domestic security objectives outlined in the Renewed Hope Agenda.