Renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), J.B. Daudu, has expressed strong disapproval of the planned trip by Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and his delegation to Canada for the Invictus Games, an event for injured war veterans. Daudu made the comments on his Facebook page, supporting Canada’s decision to deny the delegation visas.
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Daudu revealed that the CDS had intended to attend the Invictus Games in Vancouver, Canada, an event designed for disabled war veterans. He questioned the rationale behind such a trip, stating that the CDS and his team are not disabled veterans and should instead focus on addressing Nigeria’s pressing security challenges.
“I am very grateful to the Canadians for denying him and his delegation entry visas. To start with, the CDS and his team are not disabled war veterans. It would have been a different thing if he was going to Canada to consult on military and defense matters with his Canadian counterpart,” Daudu wrote.
He criticized Nigerian authorities for their lack of diplomatic awareness, noting that the visit of such a high-level defense official would typically trigger a diplomatic encounter akin to a state visit. Daudu also expressed shock that President Bola Tinubu approved the trip while he himself was on an overseas visit.
Daudu took issue with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, for his “uncomplimentary and undiplomatic” response to the visa denial. He argued that commenting on such matters falls within the purview of the Minister of External Affairs, not the NSA.
“Assuming the refusal was unjustified, it was a matter that only the Minister of External Affairs or his representative could comment on. This unsophisticated and crude knee-jerk response would have been avoided had the NSA concentrated on his primary responsibility of fighting insecurity,” Daudu stated.
Daudu reminded critics of Canada’s longstanding friendly relations with Nigeria, highlighting that the country has admitted hundreds of thousands of Nigerians as permanent immigrants in recent years. He emphasized that Canada, like Nigeria, has the right to admit or reject anyone into its territory.
“If Canada had disrespected Nigeria that much, would she have admitted into its territory that number of our countrymen and women within the past five years?” he asked.
Daudu urged Nigerian leaders to focus on addressing domestic issues, such as paying pension benefits to injured war veterans and other pensioners, rather than wasting resources on unnecessary foreign trips.
“Let us therefore bury our heads in shame and ignominy. Let us begin by paying the pension benefits of our own injured war veterans and all pensioners instead of wasting such vast resources to fund the pleasure trip of a few dysfunctional leaders,” he concluded.
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