Security: Why The Media Should Be Regulated

Former Director of the State Security Service( SSS), Mr. Mike Ejiofor, is not happy with the way the media had been reporting issues relating to Nigeria’s security apparatus. In this interview, he explains that such reports have a way of dampening the morale of security forces in the country and thus thinks it would be great to regulate media activities in that regard

Excerpts:

Give your impression of what you think so far regarding the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari to combat the Boko Haram including his travelings and meetings.

So far, it’s been very nice. I think the President needs to be commended for picking the initiative. You will remember that during the campaign, he took security as one his campaign manifesto.

And I like the fact that he is taking this measure to ensure that our security is in place. But I have some little worries. The first day, I didn’t expect that the President would have, on the first day, talk about the relocation of the command headquarters.

He should have sat down with his service chiefs, get the briefs, know their challenges, but be that as it may, there is no problem about that. he has visited Chad, Niger, he has gone to AU, visited the G7. Ordinarily terrorism is not regarded as a war or a crime peculiar to Nigeria.

So we need the collaboration of other countries and that is why he is travelling to other countries.

As for the home-front, I am worried because, although government has not reacted, we are talking about the morale of the security forces. It was since before the election that the military came up and their morale was boosted.

What is going on now is how the media and government react to it. This has to do with issues of newspaper reports concerning claims of panic in the military, the President not being happy with the DSS; all these can change the mood of the military.

The military has always been accused of being involved in politics. Let’s not pretend about it, once you take the position of service chief, you are a political appointee baring in mind also that you have the country to defend.

You just said service chiefs are political appointees…

There is a tiny line between politics and security. ..but there is a problem when leadership change. They have removed a lot of efficient serving officers because the country wants change in terms of leadership. During the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, the State Security Service was accused of many things.

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Each successive government comes with its own problem and the thing is that it was during that first tenure that the SSS would be accused of reprehensive measures and high-handedness.

But I tell you as a Nigerian, permit me to say that we don’t need that kind of freedom in Nigeria. Instead, it should be a little to the left, a little to the right; you don’t need absolute freedom. Of course, there is no freedom that is absolute in the first place.

Look at the regime of (Olusegun) Obasanjo, he did a lot of things without minding whose ox was gored.

But our democratic structures are expanding and you cannot just do what you like. Government should react to some of these things because it dampens the morale of some of these staff, the troops, because when you notice that you are afraid to take certain decisions because of future repercussions, then that become a problem.

How do you punish officials who have done certain things that they should not have done?

Of course, there are laid-down disciplinary procedures. You would recall that in 1999, when the present civilian dispensation came in, there was a particular accusation of human rights abuses which led to the setting up of the Oputa Panel. How do you explain that the Amnesty International will come and write a report without finding out …it is against the law of natural justice that you hear from one side and take a decision.

The recent moves by the president and the military do not give the impression that their morale is dampened. So why do you think the government should give a bite to headlines?

From what I am talking about, you see, for the service chiefs, they have no choice than to comply with the directive of Mr. President. So they have to be upbeat in their activity, but what I am saying is that the media should be regulated to some extent.

The type of stories that you hear and read about especially in the print media…we should even censor ourselves.

But there is self-censorship…

There is self-censorship but it doesn’t follow. You need to read online and see the reaction of people.

But the print media has different regulatory bodies, certain authorities that regulate them…

The electronic media has its activities live, so there are some things they can’t say, because you would censor yourself. But the print media want to sell their newspapers. And if you read online, you would see publications capable of inflaming passions.

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These are the issues I am talking about. When people read about stories like the ‘military is disturbed’ or ‘the President not being happy with the SSS’, it dampens morale.

Are these stories not true?

I don’t know whether they are true or not but government should react to such matters.

If you say service chiefs are political appointees, does it mean that when administration changes, they should be relieved of their positions like the ministers?

It is the discretion of Mr. President to determine who should stay and who should not stay. Don’t forget that some of those serving chiefs have their sympathies. The President is free to choose whoever he wants to work with him.

If there is one thing you would love to see done in terms of welfare for the Nigerian military, police, DSS and the rest, what would it be?

Welfare encompasses a lot of things including training, incentives, increment of salaries and its likes. No salary is enough. The President should take up adequate funding and training of the security forces.

The retired Director of State Security Service had over 37 years of experience in Security, Intelligence and Consulting within the Security Industry.

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