The various entities that
are concerned with domestic intelligence
matters the State Security Service (SSS)
especially are faced with unusual
challenges in today’s Nigeria.
The State Secret Service
and other national intelligence agencies
in their collective capacity, remain as
the main eyes protecting various
essential blind spots in our society as
they relate to the safety and wellbeing
of our citizens, everyone and everything
representing the government’s interest.
Currently, as a people, we have become a
more security-conscious society and
consequently very concerned about
terrorist-related crimes, and this has
contributed to the increasing demand for
a better output from our intelligence,
security and law enforcement agents.
In
terms of technological weapons and
equipment much progress has being made
within these agencies with the arming of
agents with powerful assault rifles.
With the presence of and use of special
security gadgets which include X-ray
screeners for detecting bombs and other
explosive devices; the use of armored
cars as well as the use of other
security protective devices for the
protection of higher-up leaders in
public areas.
Also
available for these secret agencies are
powerful means of communication to
monitor criminal offences like terrorism
and kidnapping. Yet the security and
safety situations are at this time in
despair and depressing to the extent
that in the face of ‘hard-knock’ and
fearleless attacks from the violent
Islamic sect, members of the secret
police, army and other security
enforcers reportedly pick race in order
to take cover, and protect their
precious lives instead of containing the
Boko Haram fighters. Unbelievable! and
not surprising given the lack of support
from the on looking public.
In
the previous years, our nation’s
hush-hush police, special detectives or
intelligence agents made the peoples’
lives manageable, and gave them the
feeling of being safe as evidenced in
many of their good works.
These include the arrest of powerful
terrorist like the Egyptian bomber Omar
Mohammed Ali Rezaq in the 1990s, the
occasional interception of large hidden
arms and ammunition coming into the
country. Also, they continue to attempt
to combat kidnapping offenses.
But
in recent times the continued feverish
environment of the nation and the
all-out breakdown of internal security
in the nation require a bottom up
treatment and approach in regards to
matters of intelligence-gathering,
public safety, and of the full
enforcement of domestic security laws.
The
Nigerian culture is a very diverse one,
and the traditional means of solving
security problems in America, Israel or
in Europe do not bode well fully in this
country as evidenced in the current
forces of violent change occurring in
the nation.
Our
nation’s security detectives, operatives
and agents helplessly find themselves
facing these unusual forces of change
which are constantly streaming from our
multicultural, multilingual and
multi-hardship environments.
To
make the matter worse the increasingly
poor confidence the government and the
public appear to have about the work of
many of our security and law enforcement
agencies further make things appalling
for these agencies and the nation. But
here is the real dilemma for both the
agencies and the entire society.
In
the course of providing national
security services and protection to the
leadership, and the people of this
country, our agents are faced with a
society along with its communities and
institutions known for their markedly
conflicting customs, morals and taboos.
Thereby, making intelligence or police
work unwarrantedly and extremely
difficult, as well as complex anywhere
and everywhere in the nation.
In a
country of more than 150 million people
there is no fully harmonized, integrated
and manageable personal identity
database in terms a national
identification system. As such there is
debate about who is who and no one
really knows who is who.
This
type of centralized identification
system could make the work of the
security, intelligence and law
enforcement agents more effective in
terms of personal identity and
verification.
In
spite of all the modern technologies,
American or European technical support
and advice being poured into our
agencies, superimposing these goodies
are the powerful but distracting
influences coming from inside the web of
cultural misunderstanding and ethnic
antagonism among the people.
As
such, hopelessness persists in terms of
the epidemic proportions of violent
extremism, domestic terrorism and
dreadful killings and destruction of
properties.
With
every hardship, there is no ease for
positive domestic intelligence work as
the people remain grossly encased in
abject poverty which is ravaging the
body and mind of millions of Nigerians.
The
security agencies become gloomily and
grossly affected by these hopeless
attitudes and helpless behaviors, and
sometimes respond in the same manner.
As
long as religion and ethnic divisions
continue to prevail among our leaders
and communities, it will be very
difficult correcting the false image
about intelligence work, and the
agencies see this huge disunity as a
source of heavy frustration to
effectively policing the country.
In a
society occupied with security needs but
full of unsympathetic, critical,
non-cooperating and uncomprehending
groups these agencies find the
demonstration and effectiveness of law
enforcement very challenging.
In a
society where different agencies share
common interests and characteristics in
terms of national security,
intelligence, and safety; effective
security work continue to undergo
suffering due to naked rivalry and
profound distrust. So what do we do?
Actually nothing because these issues
are awfully complex but we may try in
the following ways.
Improvement on the work of security
agencies could occur drastically if we
can adequately begin to collects,
analyzes, publish, and disseminates
statistical information on criminal
offenses, on law-violating behaviors, on
criminal perpetrators, and on victims of
crime. This type of current information
will help provide a better statistical
systems at all levels of criminal
justice as well as provide technical
avenues for agencies to develop their
better trainings and capabilities.
In
the government’s war on terrorism our
agents are now perceived by the public
as abusing their power as a result of a
method of profiling which could be
coined with a divisive term “Moving
While Islamic” (MWI).
This
method of ethnic and religious
profiling, if truth be told is
constitutionally wanting and Northerners
the Muslims ones especially who bear the
brunt of the profiling could see any
intelligence or law enforcement worker
as an enemy. So there is need for
professional sensitivity in this area.
With
the ongoing overwhelming security
problems and the President’s concern
that terrorists have infiltrated the
Presidency, military, and the
legislature, it is time that major
psychological operation units be created
and manned by doctorate level
forensic/clinical psychologists.
This
type of sensitive service is essential
as it could help reveal psychological
conditions or characteristics like
terrorist/authoritarian /extremist
personality traits which may compromise
an agent’s ability to function
effectively as security personnel.
In
the face of all these challenges raised
here, there is need to develop and plan
communicational and cultural orientation
services in the agencies for the people
in order to begin to erect full-blown
results-oriented organizational culture
in intelligence and national security
work.
John
Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D., is the
Secretary-General of the Nigeria
Psychological Association (NPA).
Jos5930458@aol.com 08126909839
