By Chioma Gabriel
Marilyn Ogar is the Assistant Director, Public Relations, State Security Service, SSS, and a member of the Presidential Committee on Security Awareness. In this edition, she answers questions on her job and emphasizes the need for all hands to be on deck in tackling the issue of insecurity.

How does it feel to be a woman in the intelligence service?

There are challenges, just as you as a journalist have your own challenges. So, its nothing exceptional for me. It’s just like any other job. I could have been a full-time housewife, a teacher, a medical doctor or whatever. The thing there is, wherever you find yourself,  settle down and enjoy your job,. When you do that, there is  no obstacle that you cannot be able to surmount on the job.

Did you set out to be  in the intelligence service from the onset?

You know, I didn’t really set out to work in the intelligence community when I was in school. But I had always said that I would be a very ‘big’ person. That was what I had in my mind while growing up. And I was quite adventurous because I always struggled to stand out in whatever I was doing.

Did you have a security background?

Well, my father worked in the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture. I know, they were used to wearing uniforms, which looked green like military uniform. I was used to waking up very early in the morning and again, because of the background I come from, I had to be the way I am. My mother had all girls, nine of us. So, we were the ones doing what the boys were supposed to be doing in the house.

Marilyn Ogar

So, at a very early age, I knew how to wash and iron my father’s uniform and to polish his work boots also. He was very strict and maybe due to his level of education, he didn’t see it as a problem having only girls. Although, my mother was not very educated, she trained us to become models that the world would really appreciate and I think that was better for us today because all her nine daughters are graduates. We became a point of reference within my local community.

Then, it was very difficult for you having girls and sending them to school. But when my parents insisted that we had to go to school, it opened the flood-gate of parents educating their female children.

After graduating, what was the journey in the intelligence service like?

My husband was quite supportive because he wanted me to have a career of my own. But what was clear was that my career must not interfere negatively with my duties as a wife and a mother

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Nothing good comes easy. You must have a starting point and you must have an end. Mine was simple. After my NYSC, unemployment started creeping in. I tried my hand on a couple of other jobs but there was something quite dramatic and miraculous. After I got the invitation to report in the  training school for this job, that same week also, I got an offer from the UBA but I opted for intelligence service because there was more job security in this one. I also believe this was God’s divine favour in my life and so, I went this way.

Some men don’t know how to handle successful women, what has been your experience in this regard?

I never really had that kind of challenge. My husband was quite supportive because he wanted me to have a career of my own. But what was clear was that my career must not interfere negatively with my duties as a wife and a mother. And I thank God that I never had difficulty in coping with both.

I’m sure you have about nine children like your mum?

I have only three. A girl, and two boys.

What’s your opinion of a Nigerian career woman? Would you say women are doing well?

I think we are . If you look around you, you’ll see a lot of women with character; character in the sense that women now believe  in their capabilities. In the past, it is believed that women cannot deliver in certain positions and certain jobs but I think all that is becoming a thing of the past, because to me, what a man can do, a woman can do best.

Women have their peculiar issues.

Sometimes, you’d see a woman driving alone in the night and when you consider the issue of security, it rings a bell.
I have said that being a woman does not make you different from a man. I believe we were created equal by God. I have seen a situation where a man cannot even kill a cockroach but the woman can kill a snake! So, it all depends on your ability to be able to discover yourself. You must be able to prove what you can do and that takes you far. Some   men refer to us as the weaker sex but I don’t see myself as one.

A lot of women have got brains and have attained heights and such women have the determination and the will to excel in everything. I think that is the driving force.

In the course of your career, what would you say is the turning point, what are the spectacular things that happened to you in the course of rising to the top?

Overcoming fear, removing limitations and barriers could take you a long way. I have also had experiences that turned things around. I could remember as a young officer, we had gone for a particular operation in the night and I was the only female in the group. We were going to pick up somebody, a man. When we got to the place, we were termed armed robbers and we said no, we were not armed robbers. We narrowly escaped being lynched. A week after that, I went shopping. I didn’t know the person we picked up that night had not been released and the family was looking for him.

The children saw me at the market and began to scream that I was amongst those that took away their father. I was very scared and I said, this is it. I thought I wasn’t going to see my husband and kids again. I thought their accusation in the market would turn the mob against me.

But I decided to get smart too. I asked if the boy was talking to me. I began to shout that I didn’t know him but he kept, saying I was the one that came and picked his father. I denied knowing him and began to raise my own voice too. When the market women gathered, some of them claimed they knew me, that I am a teacher.

That was how I escaped and when I got to the office, I told my boss and my boss said I should keep him out of it. I think that was the turning point in my career and I said okay, if my boss saw nothing wrong in what happened to me out there, then I must become a big person too.

What does ‘intelligence’ require?

You know, people talk about intelligence like an intelligent service which is wrong. Intelligence is not as being brilliant, bright and intelligent. Nigerians have been attributing many things to intelligence failure and when they do that, I wonder if they know what they are talking about. Intelligence is picking up pieces of information; if you are carrying out an investigation, you can find an angle of that investigation in Abuja, and maybe another piece in Enugu and by the time you put all the pieces together, you now have intelligence which will enable you to carry out your assignment .

There’s this security tip that if for instance, you see somebody at Ikeja, then again at Oshodi and later at CMS bus-stop the same day, it is more than just coincidence.

You know, I always say that there is something ethically wrong with us Nigerians. No matter how well-schooled, or how exposed a Nigerian is, there is still this attitude of complacency. Nigerians are very complacent. Nigerians are very carefree, very non-challant.  Nigerians are lazy on issues of security because they want to be free. Some still feel that issues of security should be left to security people.

That is wrong. When you are at home, you lock your doors, and it is because you shouldn’t  leave the door open. If you can secure your environment, you should go a step further in knowing who your neighbour is. You should  be inquisitive when you see people gathering; don’t just walk away, find out what is going on. When you notice strange movements in your area, try and find out what is happening. Don’t say it is not your business because, if you say it’s none of your business today, tomorrow it could be your turn. So, you should be more security- conscious.

What security tip would you give a woman?

I won’t give to women alone but to all Nigerians. You must always be on the look-out for members of your family. If your husband, wife or child is not at home, find out where he or she is. Let us no longer say the person will come back. You have to be sure he has not encountered any danger. Don’t allow everybody into your home. Know the friend your kid is keeping and don’t allow just any friend into your home. That is what you must do.