For his commitment to national security and cohesion, President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday last week conferred on the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Alhaji Yusuf Magaji Bichi, the award of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR). He was among the 447 high-profile personalities across Nigeria and beyond to be so honoured with the country’s revered national awards.
Interestingly, this rare recognition did not come on a platter of gold. His acumen on the security turf provided the kernel of the federal government’s capacity to decimate the lingering insurgency and pockets of threats in the north and south of Nigeria. As would be expected, Yusuf Magaji Bichi upon the renewal of his mandate by President Buhari only recently, vowed that comprehensive data on individuals and groups threatening national security and the peaceful coexistence of Nigerians would be compiled with a view to dealing decisively with the malevolent elements.
Magaji said all subversive individuals and groups would be identified, isolated and dealt with in a couple of months, while also insisting that attempts by troublemakers to thwart peaceful conduct of the 2023 general elections would be resisted by the nation’s security agencies.
The DSS boss made the announcement at an event to mark the end of his first tenure and the beginning of a fresh four-year mandate at the DSS headquarters in Abuja in September this year. The occasion also witnessed the unveiling of a book edited by the spokesperson of the DSS, Dr Peter Afunanya entitled For The Records: A Compendium of YM Bichi’s Legacy At The DSS.
Magaji said: “In a couple of months, all those responsible for the insecurity in the country will be rounded up. We have been building data of people that have been trying to undermine the security of our nation.”
Just as it was during his first tenure, the DSS Director General has promised that the Secret Police would be driven by technology, commitment, justice and professionalism. Specifically, he has vowed that any attempt to subvert the 2023 general elections and other activities of government would be brought down.
He assured of the agency’s commitment to tackle the prevailing insecurity besetting Nigeria.
With the commencement of his second four-year tenure which began on September 14, 2022, Magaji Bichi has proven to be a man of many parts, given his versatility, and outstanding deliveries in many fields of covert actions including alternative dispute resolution (ADR) initiatives.
Indeed, Bichi’s patriotic zeal and commitment to Nigeria’s unity is aptly captured in one of his numerous nationalistic memoirs in which he said inter alia: “Since my return to the organisation, I have recommitted myself to selfless service, both to it and the country. For me, an opportunity like this is one that calls for greater responsibility and dedication.”
An alumnus of the prestigious National Defence College (NDC) where he bagged a Fellow of the War College (FWC) in 2007, Bichi has brought inventiveness, vision, and team spirit to the headship of the DSS once described by critics as ‘notorious for illegal arrests and detention of citizens, abuse of court orders, partisanship and rights abuses’.
Under his current leadership, the nation’s Secret Police – against all odds – have received rave reviews, even from ardent critics, for their many successful operations and exploits that are focused on the statutory duty of detecting and preventing crimes as well as evolving counter-offensives against threats to the nation’s internal security.
Undoubtedly, this is in line with his statement of commitment. And he once said: “My vision is to create a friendly work environment, enhance staff capacity through training and welfare, as well as ensure that the DSS remains a democratically-complaint intelligence agency in Nigeria.” Alhaji Magaji Bichi believes that sustained innovations are required by the Service to continually realise its statutory mandate of ensuring the country’s internal security.
Through the Service’s machinery, in partnership with sister security and intelligence agencies, successes are being recorded in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations across the North-east region; while serviceable intelligence is daily provided for the anti-corruption agencies as part of numerous covet but successful operations to aid national security and anti-corruption drive.
It is therefore not surprising to watchers of events that the impressive performance by the DSS, under his watch, has earned him a tenure extension for another four years and rare national honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic.
The man, whose career started in the security division of the Cabinet Office in Kano from where he moved on to the defunct Nigerian Security Organization (NSO) before it metamorphosed into the SSS, was first appointed in September 2018 when the former Acting Director General, Matthew Seiyefa retired from the Service.
That the president resisted mounting pressure to replace him with other candidates proposed for appointment as the DSS’ helmsman is a pointer to the confidence in Bichi’s capacity to fire the organization to the peak of its mandate for effective and efficient service delivery on all fronts.
There is no denying the fact that he has introduced novelty into security intelligence gathering; made the Service become more public friendly by appointing a core professional to manage its public relations department. This singular decision has repositioned and re-engineered the Service to have a face that provides declassified information and makes itself more accessible to the media and members of the public. Besides its robust collaboration with the Presidential communication to periodically brief media managers, the Service is continually enhancing public education on preventive measures against crimes through the effective deployment of strategic communication.
Internally, his four-year tenure has brought about an improved welfare scheme for staff through provisions of quality housing accommodation, prompt payment of allowances, and duty tours among other entitlements.
Ambassador Yakubu is the President, Favoured Farmers Community Empowerment Trust (FFACET), Abuja
