By Soni Daniel, Abuja

Almost four years after gambling with its image and many crucial public issues without a spokesman, the Department of State Services finally named an image-maker on Thursday.

He is Mr. Mr. Nnochirionye Afunanya, who replaces Marilyn Ogar, who was removed from office by the embattled former director general of the agency, Lawal Daura, as soon as he was appointed for the agency in 2015.

But before now, the DSS had been sending out information signed by ‘Tony Opuiyo’, a creation of Daura, who did not physically address the media for once.

Mr. Afunanya, according to a statement made available to Vanguard by the DSS in Abuja on Thursday, is said to have been editing the DSS in-house magazine, The Triple S and has master’s degrees in English, Peace and Strategic Studies from Abia State University Uturu and the University of Ilorin.

He is said to be currently pursuing a PhD in Security and Strategic Studies at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

The statement said the new spokesman had attended major courses within and outside Nigeria in many fields of human endeavour, among them: Innovation and Strategy at Harvard University, Boston, USA; Security Management and Coordination, London and Investigative Journalism at City University, London.

Afunanya is also a member of many institutions, among them, Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, Nigerian Red Cross, Nigerian Institute of Management, Nigerian Institute for Industrial Security, Society for Peace Scholars and Practice, American Society for Industrial Security and a fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administration.

It will be recalled that upon his appointment as the DG DSS, Daura had disbanded the Public Relations Department and forcefully retired the director, Marilyn Ogar, who had now dragged the agency to court over premature retirement from office.

Daura had ignored several calls by media organisations to reopen the PR/Media unit until his successor, Matthew Seiyefa, was appointment two weeks ago to the post.

During his maiden briefing with journalists, Seiyefa, a trained lawyer, had assured that he would not joke with the media given its prime place in nation-building and promised to revisit the closure of the media unit.