One vivid afternoon, some years in the past, I made a decision to make a fast cease at my favorite shoes-and- baggage store on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos. As I approached the store, I observed an armed guard on the entrance. He was carrying a well-recognized gun – the intimidating however innocent-looking massive factor solely a sure company in Nigeria bears. Oh, a DSS (Division of Safety Providers) personnel was on the premises. A DSS man looking for his girl or a DSS girl taking break day to purchase excessive heels and good clutch? I stepped in and lo and behold, testing a pleasant blue pair of eye-popper heels, was a DSS girl of notice and document. Go on, guess all you need. I ain’t serving to or telling.
Is that this a narrative about excessive heeled sneakers? Nah. It’s a narrative about DSS, DSS weapons, DSS and the Nigerian media and their robust marriage. So at this yr’s convention of the Worldwide Press Institute (IPI), Nigeria’s chapter, I used to be trying ahead to seeing dozens of the DSS ‘designer weapons on show. Could also be I’d even get to the touch one, I believed. And why not?
The DSS chief, yeah, the Director-Normal of the DSS, Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi was going to ship a paper and I used to be on the panel that may focus on that paper. So I obtained to the venue early. Didn’t need these arduous poker-faced- dudes getting there earlier than me. However there was no gun in sight. What the heck? Was he standing us up, sending a rep? He got here himself and when he did, the weapons had been nonetheless lacking. No person was sporting a black shirt or an total with daring DSS inscribed on it. What’s happening right here?
When Mr Ajayi lastly obtained on the rostrum (he himself trying like a financial institution CEO), he defined why the weapons had been out of sight. It was a protracted counseling session, the sort a spouse will get even when she’s the one who woke the husband up with “Honey, we have to speak”. His matter was ‘Dissecting the frosty relationship between the Nigerian Media and Safety Companies. He learn from no notes, talking straight from his coronary heart. His message was clear, delivered in stern phrases and tone.
There’s no frosty relationship (I added ‘Honey’ in my head). The DSS is the DSS. It’s a safety company. It’s a secret police.
DSS protects its data. The media search for data. Breaking information can break safety. The selection of phrases the media use can injury issues. The media throw ‘it’ on the market. The DSS retains it away from getting out.
So, how do these two people who find themselves introduced up in another way, skilled in another way to dwell lovingly of their federally and nationally organized marriage? Even the Bible says two can not work collectively besides they agree. Wait, possibly that’s the important thing to the decision. Settlement. For this marriage to work, the Media and DSS must agree on their variations and how one can dwell with them.
Even when the DSS chief insisted that there is no such thing as a such factor as a frosty relationship between the newsroom and safety, this couple nonetheless want to take a seat down and agree on the knotty points. If a spouse says it isn’t nicely and the husband says it’s nicely, then we have to discover out what’s within the nicely. If a husband says it’s full and the spouse says it’s empty, we have to test the cup and have a look at why the 2 are seeing various things.
First, can the DSS be extra open, and ….em……. em maybe unscrap the scrapped workplace of the DSS spokesperson. Wha-a-t? Tosin Ajayi virtually blew one thing. A secret police with a spokesperson? How does that add up? The DSS is sort of a sacred masquerade or ‘Oro’. It doesn’t speak anyhow all over the place. The DSS is sort of a circumspect Yoruba Oba, he should not eat in public. Okay, these are my phrases, my understanding of the seriousness of the state of affairs. The media need solutions, voices of their tales, working inside deadlines that should be met.
How can we ship our tales when DSS doesn’t need to be seen? Tosin Ajayi mentioned all of that may be organized with out the workplace of the spokesman of DSS. Critically? What modified? Properly, I learnt that this new Sheriff is thoroughbred secret cop who rose via the ranks, not a politician or political appointee who obtained fortunate. No, Ajayi began as a rookie, and after three decades-plus of service, he’s right here decided to revive the dignity of the service. The masks should keep on and the masquerade should keep within the grove until there may be motive for it to go to the folks.
Do you see why this relationship is rocky, if not frosty? Journalists are excited by masks. They need to know who’s behind the masks? What’s the masks product of and certainly what goes on within the grove. Why does the masquerade communicate in a guttural voice? Does it have a chilly or it simply needs to confuse the populace. Secrets and techniques and secret hunters can hardly be on the identical web page. That’s the reason the harmless trying DSS weapons are out of sight and the daring DSS labels are actually coated by lengthy cloaks. Ajayi doesn’t need his males in our faces even when they’re throughout us. A masquerade who goes to the village market on a regular basis will quickly lose his masks to little boys who would assume he’s one among them, and never a spirit.
That was why they had been all dressed like bankers on the IPI Convention. However we, sure editors knew they weren’t one among us. I do know additionally they knew we weren’t one among them. They did their factor and we did ours. Come to think about it wasn’t that what the brand new DSS chief’s presentation was about?
Critically, the media and the DSS each need the identical factor, secure setting, secure nation. The 2 simply use completely different routes to the market.
Totally different trainings, other ways of life for 2 completely different professionals anticipated to work collectively. Robust however doable.
The boss on the Yellow Home comes throughout as a person who got here into this job ready. He knew the service he joined greater than 30 years in the past and he didn’t just like the flip it took someplace alongside the best way. He’s a person on a mission, decided to maintain the Secret within the State Service whereas sustaining a sensible and clean relationship with the newsroom.
The one method for this marriage to remain on the happily-ever-after lane is mutual respect and understanding of what every get together brings to the desk. I can nonetheless see the D-G, DSS in his impeccable go well with as he instructed us to cease shaking the desk. We’ll attempt, sir, however shaking the desk is what we do. We’ll simply attempt to do it inside the ambits of the legislation, respect the house of the sacred grove and the brand new Sheriff’s masquerade.
Egbemode, a former president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, will be reached on [email protected]
