While scouring the streets of Facebook days ago, I stumbled on a post by Hon. Ifunanya Nwanegwo, who happens to be the Chairman of Mbaitoli LGA, Imo State. In the post, she was appreciating the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, for empowering ten people in the LGA to help them boost their small businesses.
What struck me the most wasn't the post, but the comments that ensued. It was laden with emotion-laced testimonies of how the DSS boss has always been benevolent. Expectedly, my initial reaction was that this must have been a political move. However, it struck me that the name didn't sound Igbo. In fact, he is Ijebu from Ogun State. And from my little knowledge of the Yoruba, I know that they are considered the most thrifty, if not the stingiest, of the Yoruba race.
When I inquired if this gesture was because his wife is from Imo State, I discovered that she isn't. Therefore, I ruled out politics. This is humanity at play, combined with leadership, purpose, and achievement of national security objectives. In that moment. I decided to dig a bit further to attempt the difficult task of unraveling the man, the mystery, and the motive.
While researching the background of Mr. Ajayi from colleagues, superiors, and subordinates at the DSS, it dawned on me that the man has what I would describe as a 'special place in his heart' for the less privileged in society. For instance, I got to learn that as far back as 1994, when he was still a budding officer, Ajayi's hobby was providing financial assistance to orphanages and leper homes in Akure, Ondo State. As he rose in rank and got transferred to other states, he improved the scope of the support. Now, as the DG of the DSS, I heard he carries out outreaches at orphanage homes across all states at different times of the year.
Friends and former colleagues describe Mr. Ajayi as an uncommon humanitarian. "He is led by principles of humanity, not of politics, nor religion, nor tribe, nor any sentiment whatsoever," said one of his university classmates. While serving in Bauchi State, a now-retired deputy director of the Service, Ajayi, renovated a mosque at Tafewa-Balewa. He rebuilt the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), which was in near ruins, even as he reportedly renovated the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) church there.
He didn't stop at assisting churches and mosques. The DSS boss, I learned, made it a point of duty to host Christian and Muslim leaders yearly as a means of fostering unity while also extending humanitarian assistance to them. He would feed those fasting during Lent and Ramadan and assist those who met him with pressing issues.
As I dug deeper, I was struck by awe at how a security chief could be so moved by passion for humanity to do all he did and is still doing.
In my home state, Kogi, where I served as Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to former Governor Idris Wada, I couldn't help but notice the impact Mr. Ajayi made in my state when he served as the State Director of Security. Even though his deployment came after that administration, while other neighboring states struggled with insecurity, Ajayi, I learned, largely succeeded in keeping Kogi safe, apparently using his unique style of engaging aristocrats and plebeians alike.
Aside from occasionally empowering people, the DSS boss, I further learnt, had the habit of visiting hospitals and offsetting bills of indigent patients. He would support widows with empowerment programs and offer scholarships to their children. From what I gathered, when selecting beneficiaries, Ajayi does not discriminate based on tongue or creed.
From Bauchi to Bayelsa, from Plateau to Rivers, and from Ondo to Kaduna States, I learnt, Ajayi's benevolent fingerprints in orphanages and several humanitarian gestures are as clear as the day. In a climate where it is not uncommon for public officers, especially security chiefs, to seek to make the best of their postings, Ajayi chose to be different. He always gave back, in very special ways, to the indigents in the states he served.
In the course of my investigation of this interesting man, I learned that security may not just be about brandishing arms and ammunition. I got to learn that the DSS boss believes that humanitarian acts have proven to be a very efficient unconventional method of maintaining peace and security. One of the driving forces of the DSS boss, noted a retired director of the Service, is his belief that any intelligence service without a human asset will be struggling, as, according to the spy chief, human intelligence, aka HUMINT, is more effective. He reportedly believes that the collection of information from human sources through interpersonal contact is very effective.
I guess he believes that when an idle mind is meaningfully engaged, the chances of indulging in criminality become slimmer. In the states he served across all the geopolitical zones, Ajayi was able to use this unconventional approach to record successes. It, therefore, came as a little surprise that President Tinubu appointed him to head the DSS and to realize the National Strategic Security Plan.
Apparently, due to the classified nature of DSS activities, I, understandably, couldn't lay my hands on some information I desired. Thankfully, by virtue of his becoming Director General, some of his activities have become public information, which makes it easy to better understand his true nature. I remember that months ago, friends of the DSS boss donated an Islamic school to a community in Kaduna state. He had served in the state and, in 2009, directed the successful rescue of a Canadian lady and an official of Rotary International.
We cannot overemphasize the importance of security to our daily lives. The earlier we begin to realize that all aspects of society need to be fully secured for us to make progress, the better we will start appreciating people like Mr. Ajayi, who leaves no stone unturned in the quest to make Nigeria safer.
It goes without saying that a man's true nature is exposed through his actions. The kind nature of the DSS boss, perhaps, is the reason he finds it easy to compensate individuals who were wrongly arrested by the Service. Apparently, only a kind, just, and true man who expresses empathy towards the plight of others will go through the inconvenience of apologizing and compensating suspects arrested or detained in error.
At this point, some might be wondering if, with the DSS boss, charity is indeed beginning at home. In other words, DSS personnel are also beneficiaries of Ajayi's kindness. I cannot claim to have all the details. However, most serving and retired personnel of the DSS I interacted with say they've never had it so good. I hear they are better enumerated, personnel issues are prioritized, families of personnel lost in the line of duty are adequately compensated, wives and relatives of inactive personnel are empowered, and most importantly, personnel of the agency are hopeful for a better future in the Service.
The humanitarian deeds of the DSS boss are too numerous to mention in a single piece like this. I'm happy to have come to realize that Ajayi is not just the Director General of DSS. He is a man who sees the hollowness in the hearts of the needy and goes overboard to support them and give them hope.
It is my sincere prayer that, someday, other leaders across the country will emulate this Good Samaritan, who continues to build on a worthy legacy of kindness and service for humanity.
Edi, Special Adviser to Governor Usman Ododo on Information and Communications and former chairman of the NUJ (FCT chapter), wrote from Abuja.