Afolabi Gambari
Either many Nigerians do not know that the Department of State Security (DSS) is a secret police or they know but do not care or, indeed, they have come to see the agency as “just another government office”. Not surprisingly, therefore, the agency has hardly evoked the awe it should among the citizens who perhaps see personnel of the outfit as mere jacket-wearing individuals in pitch dark goggles.
Scarcely have the personnel also helped matters by always seeking to be ubiquitous with a view to being seen as brandishing power and authority. The heirarchy itself almost often issue media releases which portray the agency as consciously seeking public approval in the manner that gives the agency away as too uncharitably effervescent.
Yet, it is doubtful if the personnel themselves understand that they are a secret police that should neither be heard nor seen, especially in public. The immediate past administration of DSS made a virtue of pandering to the public for reasons that could not be understood, but which could not be far from political. But question still needs to be asked: in what or whose interest should a secret police be playing to the gallery?
Soon after President Bola Tinubu replaced the former DSS head, Alhaji Yusuf Bichi, with Mr Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, staff of the agency literally went overboard jubilating over what they saw as the fall of Bichi, according to various reports. It soon emerged that the jubilation resulted from what the staff considered as alleged Bichi’s highhandedness, incompetence and vindictiveness. In no time, it went viral in so embarrassing and indefensible manner. Observers would have found it profoundly difficult to distinguish the jubilant scene at the DSS office from another rowdy scene at the motor park where officials of the road transport union are making merry. Yet, decency is supposed to be the line that separates both organisations.
To rub salt into the image injury sustained by the DSS is a line in the media reports thus: “Bichi’s leadership style and policies had created divisions among personnel, leading to widespread discontent.” This had to be the height of the extent at which the DSS has been politicised.
But more was to come. In another report, it was alleged thus: “Bichi’s wife and son were involved in misconduct, including abusing their influence and mistreating staff. His management style impeded career progression for many officers by extending the service years of those approaching retirement and implementing recruitment practices perceived as biased towards his home region.”
Bichi spent six years as head of the secret police before he was removed on August 27, having been appointed by former president Muhammadu Buhari in 2018. But it appeared, based on the reports, that his tenure in office was replete with all manner of malfeasance.
As a confirmation that the DSS has been unmasked and reduced to a political office, Bichi’s successor, Ajayi, had barely resumed in his new office when what looked like personal image-laundering campaign was launched for him in what looked like a syndicated publication. In it, it was said of the new DSS boss: “…the new sheriff at DSS comes to the job with demonstrated exceptional leadership, professionalism, and dedication to duty, spanning several state commands where he was noted for his zest for excellence.”
It was also said of him: “A disciplined officer who is never tired of learning, Ajayi ascends office having fully prepared himself for the top job by taking detective courses in security, strategic management and protection in Israel, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Through the different certificate courses, Ajayi was exposed to new and modern techniques in security threat detection and management.”
The praise singer merely stated the obvious though, but he was scarcely aware. Then he fawned: “In appointing Ajayi to the office, President Tinubu demonstrated his commitment to departing from a practice that had creatively destroyed the growth of the organisation. The practice of recalling retired operatives to head organisations like the DSS, works only to kill morale and destroy commitment to excellence.” Ajayi already knew that excellence brought him to this lofty position. But the praise singer put political sword into the officer’s sterling career, as it were.
If Ajayi ends up debasing the DSS like his predecessor did, well, it is as he likes it. Whether he would return the office to professional pedestal also remains to be seen. But he ought to be told, if he has not already told himself, that the less he is heard or seen in public, the better for professionalism and the more respectable his office would become.