If the social media were the rating agency for the intelligence community in Nigeria, chances are those holding sway in our various intelligence agencies would be scored very low marks. This is so because, by the very nature of their work, the intelligence agencies engage in a lot of work other agencies of government take credit for. Obviously, only a few Nigerians know that, in spite of our security challenges, virtually all the victories achieved and the progress, even if slowly, being made are on account of the work of these diligent agencies of government, who operate mostly in the background.
For them, what matters is the result. They do not care or bother themselves with such cheap things as taking any credit. Someone might ask: if the intelligence agencies are working as optimally as they should be, why is our national security at a low ebb? The answer to that is simple: these agencies are not the action organs of government responsible for putting to use actionable intelligence gathered by them. If, for example, the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) or the Department of State Services (DSS) send a report exposing planned attacks on certain places, it is up to the military to act on that information and stop it.
Sadly, owing to reasons that are not too distant from unnecessary rivalry, you find that, in many cases, the action agencies, such as the police or the military or any of the many para-military organisations, would also insist in investigating the intelligence, and, more often than not, before they even start, the attack foretold by these intelligence agencies has taken place. One wonders how these unsung heroes feel when they see newspaper headlines suggesting intelligence failure most times Nigeria suffers one casualty or the other in the war against banditry and terrorism.
Does that lower the morale of the personnel of these undercover institutions working very hard to ensure the rest of us operate in a peaceful and harmonious environment? Well, they are human and will naturally feel bad when wrongly accused or misperceived. Perhaps because they do not want to heat the polity, and clearly because they care less about taking any credit, you hardly see them coming out to put the record straight, unless doing so would somewhat strengthen our national security. It is a sort of double jeopardy.
Brass Tacks took a decision to examine the intelligence community appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari, especially in the last three years, with a view to rating the appointees properly and appreciating the silent work they are busy doing for all of us. This piece also examines the key roles played especially by the DSS and the DIA in the killing of the notorious terrorist-in-chief, Abubakar Shekau.
On June 5, 1986, almost 35 years ago, the government of the day took a bold step that has continued to serve this country greatly. It was on that day that the DIA was born and saddled with the task of serving as the primary military intelligence agency of Nigeria. In specific terms, it was charged to provide an efficient system of obtaining military intelligence for the Nigerian armed forces and the defence structure in general. The agency’s role also includes promoting Nigeria’s defence policy, enhancing military cooperation with other countries and maintaining the territorial integrity of Nigeria. At any time, the head of the agency is the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), who is appointed by the President of the country and no one else.
For the Muhammadu Buhari administration, one of the smartest moves it has made towards curtailing insecurity is the appointment of Sunday Adebayo, a Major-General of the Nigerian Army, as Nigeria’s CDI and chief executive officer of the DIA.
Just like Yusuf Magaji Bichi of the DSS and Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Adebayo is a foremost intelligence czar whose major attributes include being a heavily-detribalised and loyal patriot whose focus has consistently been a peaceful and harmonious Nigeria.
When he held sway as the Chief of Military Intelligence in charge of the Nigerian Army, a position he held until February this year when, in appreciation of his selflessness and hardwork, President Buhari promoted him to his current post of CDI, General Adebayo played a key role in degrading Boko Haram (a word some cynical Nigerians don’t want to hear) to the level where the late leader of Boko Haram, Shekau, last year, cried openly, begging his soldiers not to abandon the fight, though they were being severely decimated.
A lot of Nigerians do not know that it was the trio of these intelligence chiefs, whose work made it possible for Shekau to be killed. Though there are things that should not be said in the public domain, it was because they succeeded in planting moles in the ranks of Boko Haram that only two out of 20 top commanders of the terror group remained truly loyal to Shekau, making it possible for ISWAP terrorists to penetrate the terror leader’s hideout and smoke him out.
General Adebayo in particular made the capture of Shekau a top priority since his appointment as head of the DIA. He started even when he was holding the lesser post of Chief of Military Intelligence for the Army.
As an investigative journalist, I am aware of so many clandestine assignments Adebayo has handled in that direction. Barely a month into his appointment, I travelled to Diffa, one of the most dangerous places on earth, to investigate the plight of our internally displaced persons. Though Diffa is in Niger Republic, it has several thousands of our IDPs strewn in different camps. Though we barely knew each other, Adebayo placed a call to me and asked me to handle some sensitive work for this country.
Though I have never been a security or intelligence consultant, I did not hesitate in accepting to carry out the task assigned to me by the intelligence czar. I felt honoured that he trusted me to serve this great country at that level. It reminded me of the days of General Andrew Azazi as Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA), when he forced himself to be friends with some editors. In his well-informed wisdom, the work of a journalist is basically about information gathering, virtually the same as the intelligence community. So, he became friends with many editors and in the process got very sensitive information that helped his work a great deal. It was this partnership that made it easy for the military to have the breakthrough then, which led to the killing of the notorious Boko Haram spokesman, Abu Qaqa. Those editors were the ones who helped with the information that led to the capture and killing of the terror-kingpin Qaqa, in Kano.
It is to the credit of Nigeria that the DSS and the DIA are working round the clock, deepening their partnership, in a bid to crack the most difficult issues affecting our national security. Adebayo and Bichi now work and relate so closely, like twins. Of course, I am not excluding the DG of NIA, Ahmed Rufa’i. The trio work closely, silently, with a raw determination to shame Nigeria’s enemies and make the country work for all of us.
One interesting thing about the unprecedented achievements of these patriots is that they are doing so under a very hostile environment. Nigerians that should support them are somewhat opposed to them. They are almost always misreported and undermined by ill-informed commentators who take pleasure in denigrating Nigerians once they are in government.
We forget that these individuals are our brothers and compatriots staking their lives for us all.
Owing to consistent negative commentaries, majority of Nigerians hardly care to cooperate with the intelligence services in driving intelligence. All over the world, the locals provide information that the intelligence services process for the use of the military, the police and other security services.
Many experts wonder how those chaps in the intelligence community manage to record unprecedented achievements against this backdrop. It is like squeezing water out of stone. The good thing is that they have remained undeterred, in very clear determination to succeed and return Nigeria to peace.
With the appointment, yesterday, of Major-General Farouq Yahaya as the new Chief of Army Staff by President Muhammadu Buhari, our hope is that this time around, the military would as it did when General Tukur Buratai was Army Chief cooperate deeper with the DIA, the DSS and the NIA in finding credible solutions to the security malaise afflicting the country. Yahaya is a very credible military general whose intellect was first noticed by General Buratai. He it was who appointed Yahaya as General Officer Commanding the 1st Division of the Nigerian Army, and later as Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole. Under his watch, working closely with Adebayo and co, they recorded achievements only a few Nigerians are aware of, as they cared very little about publicity or taking credit.
With Adebayo of DIA, Bichi of DSS, Rufa’i of NIA and now Farouk Yahaya as Army Chief, there is no way Nigeria’s national security would not be turned around for the best, provided these patriots work closely together with the other service chiefs. We are positive they are going to do so. The new Army Chief should in particular shun politics in all its ramifications, and not allow some senior appointees of government or any minister to mislead him. He must remain focused and serve Nigeria as a whole, and not engage in proxy war against his predecessors and subordinates. The task ahead of him requires the cooperation of all, and definitely cheap politics or blackmail shall not have room in his brief.
It is the task of the National Orientation Agency to help our security and intelligence services galvanize support of all Nigerians. Without all of us agreeing to help these patriots, their achievements can only be limited, as not even the best intelligence networks anywhere in the world have ever succeeded without the people driving intelligence.