In this season of political shenanigans, anything other than a political write up that will contain permutations of who is in or out of the primaries of the political parties at different levels may not necessarily interest editors and our dazed and befuddled compatriots, who are in a hurry to usher in new government come midday on May 29, 2023. Notwithstanding, the above title is indicative of the corollary of the current political situation that is also germane to our survival, this is the issue of security. This is even more evident against the backdrop of what happened in Owo, Ondo State on June 5, 2022.
On one of my many trips to Abuja Airport, I was in a taxi one early morning when the car radio was blasting a hilarious music. Innocently, I asked the driver to raise the volume and tell me the name of the musician. He was shocked that I didn’t know the name of the trending musician in the country. The music is titled Celebrate Me/Appreciate Me now when I dey alive by Patoranking. Such is the generational gap between the music of the old and new.
At this difficult time in the history of the country, it is a bit problematic to convince the average Nigerian that any arm of the security and intelligence agencies in the country is actually working and can be relied upon if what they read and hear every day are kidnappings, beheadings and ritual killings. It is, therefore, a tough assignment to write a fitting tribute to those public servants that need to be celebrated especially when they have recently taken a bow from the services of the National Intelligence Agency, one of the foremost security and intelligence services in the country and perhaps worldwide.
It is, therefore, on the basis of the Celebrate Me music that I have decided to pay tribute to the unsung patriots who suffer day and night and keep awake both at home and abroad for us to be alive. These are the 1987 intakes of the NIA, among whom are my friends, that happened to be pioneer officers of the Service. I came to know one of them, the anchor upon which I have become close to a few. On that basis, I can testify to the fact that these are indeed gentlemen, in spite of what you read about the covert activities of intelligence officers. In my several assignments, both at home and abroad, I have come in contact with them in tedious situations, never complaining but painstakingly carrying out their assignments, first to enter the fray and the last to leave the danger zone.
This June (perhaps 19) marks 36 years of the creation of NIA by the regime of former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (retd.). The service remains a pride of the nation, unfortunately, it cannot blow its trumpet. It has achieved much in the last 36 years. Check history and find out about Nigeria’s peace efforts in Chad and Somalia that paved the way for Felix Malloum and Siad Barre to live and later died in Nigeria, you would find in NIA more than a footnote. The agency was the arrowhead of the creation of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa. It can now compete favourably with the well-established intelligence agencies in the world.
When the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, said on June 29, 2021, that the security services of the country were instrumental in the apprehension of a fugitive outside the country, only discerning minds will attest to the counter intelligence operations that can only be done by the Service. The NIA has projected an image of respectability, professionalism and clandestinity until the one or two issues that have been confronting the service lately.
First, the Ikoyi saga of 2017 and secondly, the appointment and renewal of the tenure of the current Director-General. On these two issues, I rely on my “dependable sources” and can say for free that the Ikoyi incident cannot be described as a sleaze as governments use intelligence services for purposes that the citizens may not appreciate or understand. Also, the substantive DG did not retire from service because he failed promotion examinations. He did pass the promotion examination but was denied promotion because of limited vacancy for directors at the time.
While NIA does not need any individual to defend it in the public domain since it is capable of doing so, it is pertinent to note that the Ikoyi saga was very much an unfortunate and regrettable occurrence. It was an inter-service rivalry taken too far and history will not forgive the traducers, who in their haste to get recognition, threw caution to the winds and almost sacrificed an entire institution, which even if it was not in existence, would still have been created. This is because of the doctrine of necessity that any country worth its salt ought to have effective intelligence and counter intelligence services. Ask the citizens of US, UK, Israel, Russia, South Africa and Ethiopia and you will get the answer.
The only regret, according to my friends, who were in service when the incident happened was that the then DG NIA did not order his men to use the superior weapons in their possession to defend the assets of the service, the same way Lawal Daura, former DG SSS, did when the exuberant acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, directed the raid on the house of his immediate predecessor. At worst, there would have been a shootout and casualties on both sides and at best tactical withdrawal. I guess, lessons have been learnt and the agency would definitely handle the situation differently in future.
The major lesson as far as my friend is concerned, however, is not to allow an uninformed and ill-tempered person to head an arm of government so vital to the economic interest of the country, not someone who is on record to have claimed that COVID-19 was a creation of a corrupt mind, thus disputing the validity of science.
Notwithstanding the little distractions, let me use this opportunity to pay tribute to the Pioneer DG of the service, Radha Raju, who recently turned 80 years and by providence enabled the recruitment of my friends into the elite service, majorly based on merit arising from the competitive recruitment exercise shortly after the creation of the service. According to my friend, the young and brightest Nigerians were selected from the then 19 states of the federation as pioneer officers in 1987 on an equal basis. The number of candidates recruited as far as my friend is concerned remains classified. They, therefore, joined the foundation officers that crossed from the old Nigerian Security Organisation and the former Research Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Neither connection was needed nor quota system required as far as Chief A.K. Horsfall was concerned in order to get the service on a very strong footing. Some were visiting Lagos for the first time and had to face the hustle and bustle of the former capital, including falling down from moving “ubiquitous Lagos Molue,” which they were not accustomed to, with their Babarigas and eating amala and ewedu under Marina bridge for the first time. That generation is now out of the system giving way to the second generation, who hopefully will live up to the expectation of the founding fathers to have a Foreign Intelligence Service that is capable of defending and promoting Nigeria’s national interests.
While the members of the armed forces, the security forces and the Department of State Services officers can be seen and not heard, the NIA officers can neither be seen nor heard and remain so even in death. They live the cover all through life and death. Imagine such a sacrifice that while alive you can only talk about one nebulous office as your employer or at best the presidency and even in death your obituary remains so. So, therefore, permit me to call on the remaining NIA Class of 1987 to stand for recognition and a well-deserved rest as they bow out of service. 35 “gbosas” for your years in service and 36 ‘gbosas’ for the existence of the Service.
Nigeria owes you all a debt of gratitude for the sacrifice, here and hereafter. As usual, my friend tells me, they owe everything to Nigeria for the opportunity to serve. Fortuitously, among the retired officers are now first-class traditional rulers, legislators, professors and ambassadors. To this end, it is also fitting to remember the pioneer officers who have passed on through natural causes and on active duty in Nigeria and abroad in painful circumstances, including wars, shooting incidents and plane crashes. May God continue to comfort their families. It is my fervent hope that the Nollywood will in the not too distant a future follows the tradition of the Hollywood by showcasing the Great Seal of the Service and the stars representing the fallen heroes etched into the Memorial Wall of the Headquarters’ Foyer as the agency’s contribution to national development.
NIA Headquarters is such a beautiful place, where monkeys and other birds have a right of way over and above humans, but where I am told that spouses and children cannot visit. Perhaps one day, those of us looking at the elegant structure of the headquarters from outside will have the opportunity of visiting the agency museum and enjoy the serenity and the calm ambience, especially the extensive conservation activities embarked upon by the founding fathers, arguably, second only to the one in the State House, Aso Villa.
I would like to end this tribute by extending felicitation the way we greet in my family lineage of Itarabugba Compound in Epe on special occasions and celebrations of Eyo Festival: Mo yo fun e, mo yo fun ra mi (literally translated as I celebrate NIA Class of 1987, I celebrate myself).
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