The former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, has said that the new heads of the DSS and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) should work and coordinate both agencies harmoniously, as intelligence is needed to tackle security challenges.
Ejiofor said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, where he spoke on the new appointments of Mohammed Mohammed and Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi as the new Director Generals of the NIA and the DSS respectively, as he said that he believes that they will bring fresh ideas to the table when it comes to solving Nigeria’s various security challenges.
The former DSS DG was asked his opinion on the recent appointments, to which he responded, “The SSS, as far as I know, has been very professional, although there might be some one or two areas people have some misgivings, but if you look at the overall performance of the service, I think they have done averagely well, comparing what is going on in Nigeria. Don’t forget that these people, the service officers, they are people from Nigeria, and are by Nigerians.
“So, a lot of challenges are in there- you have issues of poverty, you have issues of unemployment, that is not to say that the SSS will solve all these problems, but I think they need the support of the generality of the people, to ensure that they succeed. For me, I think these are very young officers, and Tosin, as I know him, mixes very well. He’s a socialite and I think he’s going to bring that to attract maybe more patronage to the service.
“And I think both of them coming in at that same time will work harmoniously and see that they coordinate and tackle our security challenges, because security operations are driven by intelligence. So, they should concentrate more efforts in acquisition of more technology, cooperation, and working, like the President said, with the office of the NSA to ensure that we have seamless operations and be able to tackle our security challenges which are actually enormous.”
Ejiofor then congratulated the new heads, saying that they will be good fits for the post that they were brought into, as he said, “For the DG NIA, he’s been out of the country serving in various troubled countries like Pakistan, so, he has vast knowledge of external intelligence and he has been a career service officer, I think he’s very well equipped to tackle the challenges.
“Now, coming to Mr. Ajayi, like you said, and I know him personally well too, just like the outgoing DG, he’s a career officer, intelligence officer with vast experience, especially in the Niger Delta region. Recall that he was a director in Rivers State, with his professional expertise, he was able to manage the dramatist personnel, the idiosyncrasies and all the problems in Port-Harcourt, he was able to manage all the dramatist personnel. So, I believe too that he will bring that experience to bear at the national level.
“One exciting thing about his appointment for me is that he was appointed from inside the service. You know, I have always advocated that career officers be appointed from within the service, you know, to enhance career progression. And this is a very well thought out appointment, he is also very popular among the staff, I think he will exploit that advantage at the national level to bring our national security challenges to bear.”
Speaking further on Ajayi, Ejiofor said, “He’s the youngest DG that we have had in the service, and I think he will come in with vibrant ideas, new ideas, and for those of us who are the old school, we will be at the background also trying to give him that support to see that he succeeds.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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