It is not everyday that jubilation erupts when someone earns promotion to higher office. That this happened on August 26, 2024 when Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi was named Director-General of the Secret Service, struck me. Ordinarily, these people are supposed to be seen, not heard.

Well, we cannot always control emotions. That men and women danced for joy just because Yusuf Bichi was stepping aside shows that Ajayi may not just be a thorough professional, he is also simply a man of the people. His background as a Yoruba does not stain this record.

Those in service did not celebrate because President Bola Tinubu found an Odogbolu man for the job. They were happy that someone who understands their pains, who feels and knows them has mounted the podium.

I understand that the new DG comes from a pious background. This is what should guide him in the discharge of his duties. God does not abhor politicians, he only admonished that we should give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. Politics is dirty but there is always a way out.

Ajayi must dine with politicians, only when it is absolutely necessary. In the course of his assignments, he has gone round the Geo – Political Zones. From Rivers and Bayelsa States in the South – South, to Enugu in the South – East, Kogi in the North – Central and Bauchi in the North – East, there is nothing to teach him about politics and insecurity.

The new boss has something to prove. He is the first head of the Secret Service who joined purely as an Internal Security Intelligence Officer. Since the DSS was created in 1986 through General Ibrahim Babangida’s National Security Agencies Decree No. 19, no State Security Services (SSS) trained Cadet rose to the position of DG. Ajayi has broken the jinx.

His predecessor, Bichi, joined in 1984 as an Officer Cadet of the Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO). The DG before Bichi, Mathew Seiyefa, also enlisted in 1984. Babangida broke the NSO into three –  SSS, DIA( Defence Intelligence Agency) and NIA(National Intelligence Agency).

Before 1986, those who headed the Secret Service were picked from various backgrounds. Chief Theophilus Fagbola, the first Indigenous Commissioner of Police in charge of Intelligence, was seconded from the University of Ife where he served as Acting Registrar, in 1962 and made a supernumerary Assistant Commissioner of Police. What coincidence that Ajayi was born in 1967, the year Fagbola was promoted twice.

Umaru Shinkafi, Albert Horsefall, Peter Nwaoduah and Ismaila Gwarzo were originally officers of the Nigeria Police Force. When Ita Ekpenyong and Afakriya Gadzama enlisted, there was no DSS.

Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi was in the Foreign Service doing Intelligence work but was given the plum job in 1985 while serving as the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany. He was brought back home by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

General Olusegun Obasanjo began the militarisation of the Secret Service when he appointed Col. Abdullahi Mohammed as the first Director General of the NSO, following its creation via Decree No. 16 of 1976.

When Obasanjo returned as civilian president in 1999, he went for another Army officer, Col. Kayode Are. Babangida favoured Gen. Aliyu Gusau during his presidency. Anyway, when the Secret Service was under the police as ‘E’ Branch, one prominent officer was Maj. J. J. Sullivan.

Ajayi must show the world why he is a professional. We want a DSS that will be respected like foreign agencies – the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the United States, the British MI5 and Israel’s Mossad.

I guess, he is at home with the Holy Book and must have come across the phrase, ‘Hosanna today, Crucify him’ tomorrow. The same voices that hailed his appointment will deny him should the DG perform below expectations. It is always good to remember yesterday.

What I like about Ajayi is that so much is coded about him. One report said he hails from Oyo State. The names Adeola and Oluwatosin made some people believe that a woman got the job. Yes, female Yoruba bear Deola and Tosin. The confusion fits the calling.

It is 34 years now since the DG enlisted as an SSS Cadet Officer. He does not really belong to what is referred to as the Analogue Era. Digitalisation rules communications. There is a lot of work to do. Nigerians are tired of Bandits, Killer Herdsmen and Kidnappers.

These criminals are all over our space ‘sharing blood’ and collecting ransom. The DSS should depart from the immediate past. State Directors will do better without following the dictates of governors. Politics should be divorced from insecurity.

The name Adeola reminds me of one ‘E’ Branch officer, Joseph Adeola, nicknamed Flying Police Officer for his sporting prowess.

During the Civil War, he was abducted by Biafran soldiers in the Mid – West. It was a pleasant surprise when the  detective returned after the crisis and became Commissioner of Police, Lagos State.

This is the type of pleasant surprise the DSS DG should simulate. We want to see a rejuvenated Secret Service, where there is renewed hope for real. We want citizens to revert to his officers when all hope appears to be fading.

Nigerians are not asking for too much. When a true professional does the job efficiently, tribe and tongue do not matter. Ajayi must not allow politicians to use him against their opponents. He should steer clear of repression. At the end, his reputation should be 100 percent away from  Heinrich Himmler’s.