Former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mike Ejiofor, has called for a more diversified approach to Nigeria’s defence procurement and international security partnerships, arguing that the country must not rely on limited or strained alliances in its fight against insecurity.
Speaking on Monday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, Ejiofor responded to concerns raised over Nigeria’s access to weapons amid global conflicts involving major powers such as Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Israel, and the United States.
He noted that despite ongoing global wars affecting traditional arms suppliers, Nigeria still has alternative partners capable of meeting its defence needs: “the minister of defense made that allegation apparently, you know it’s not long that the war started so if there were orders placed, we have the other options, we can go to Turkey, China. Israel is at war with Iran, America is at war with Iran, Ukraine is at war with Russia and these are major power blocks but we can go to Turkey or China and other areas that can help us.”
Ejiofor further explained that Nigeria has existing defence collaborations, particularly with the United States, but questioned the level of effectiveness and visible impact of such partnerships in recent years.
According to him, the country must critically assess whether international security cooperation is translating into measurable improvements in counterterrorism operations and internal security outcomes: “Don’t also forget that America has been partnering with us but I don’t seem to be seeing the effectiveness of that collaboration. See the American scheme after the first attack in Sokoto. We’ve not had much on the activities.” he said.
The Former DSS boss also expressed concern over the creation of the Office of the Special Adviser on Homeland Security by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, warning that unclear mandates could trigger institutional overlap and inefficiency in Nigeria’s security framework.
While acknowledging the move as a potential innovation, Ejiofor cautioned that Nigeria must avoid politicising security architecture or creating conflicting command structures.
Ejiofor suggested that the initiative may be inspired by models such as the United States homeland security system but warned that without clear separation of duties, overlap with the Office of the National Security Adviser could create administrative friction: “I don’t know the intent of that homeland security but like I said the president has a lot of sources of information on which he works on. Maybe he wants to adopt the American system where you have a different land security but until the jobs of the NSA and this new special advisor are clearly defined there is bound to be conflict among the two offices,” he warned.
However, he maintained that insecurity is not solely dependent on weapons availability but also on intelligence, strategy, and internal coordination.
Ejiofor further addressed concerns about the vulnerability of senior military officers, stressing that insecurity in the country has become widespread and unpredictable.
He noted that even heavily protected individuals have fallen victim to attacks in the past, underscoring the need for broader systemic reforms rather than isolated protective measures: “The most important thing is that we must bring these people to book curtail the activities and we’ll see how we can move on without uh we recall the case of Mike Ozekome when he was attacked with the hordes of policemen with me,” he said.
Ejiofor, in stressing the need for a more robust and results-driven counterterrorism approach, argued that Nigeria’s security agencies must be adequately equipped with the right skills, intelligence capacity, and operational strength to confront armed groups decisively.
He maintained that the objective should not be symbolic engagement or premature negotiations, but the systematic weakening of such groups until they are compelled to submit to state authority and legal processes: “the decisive thing to do is that we should acquire all the necessary skills to deal with these people and bring them to their knees, let them surrender but not asking them to come and surrender first”, he stressed.
Ejiofor further questioned the end-point of negotiations with armed groups, arguing that any engagement with criminals must be grounded in clear state authority and strategic advantage rather than compromise or uncertainty, “when they surrender what do you do with them we should be negotiating from the point of power not weakness to say i mean the the thing is that we should deal with these people and let them surrender and face the law”, he noted.
Ejiofor added that citizens must also exercise caution and situational awareness, given the prevailing insecurity across various parts of the country, the most important thing to know is that there’s too much insecurity in the country, so let us also be conscious of our environment especially when you’re traveling and know how to protect yourself from these bandits,” he warned.
