While the “Shithole” statement made by President Donald Trump is still generating ripples across Africa in general and Nigeria in particular, some individuals have remained indifferent to the statement as they still couldn’t understand why they need to exonerate Nigeria or prove to people who already have a confirmation bias that Nigeria is more than just its flaws. The DSS has now become one of those reasons.

Some of the actions and inactions going on in Nigeria has terribly slowed down the wheel of progress of the country and we are worse off than we were pre-independence. Corruption, killings, inter ethnic crisis, and abuse of power has been the bane of our democracy which has slowed down the rate at which development is taking place in the country.
The actions of the Department of States Security Services (DSS) these days is the newest entrant to the list of anti developmental activities we endure as a nation. The DSS was primarily designed as the nation secret Police to protect the internal security of Nigeria.

The DSS which has always operated discreetly like the Nigerian Intelligence Agency has lost it’s values as to the way they conduct their operations. Today, the agency has replaced the political thugs in the country. They act so openly and  with such impunity that you find them everywhere. On the road, in the street and any other places you could ever think of.

The presidency of Goodluck Jonathan started this rot which has degenerated further under the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, both administrations openly using officials of the agency to settle political scores and not caring for the collateral damage. Scores of Nigerians have died in the agency’s custody as they’ve been accused severally by Amnesty International of engaging in extra judicial killings.

Another angle to its rot is the rate at which influential individuals in the country use the DSS to fight their personal scores with perceived enemies which is literally out of their jurisdiction. The arrest of Engineer Dafup, a Ghana based lecturer by the DSS for converting a Muslim lady into Christianity which wasn’t a forceful one by the way has shown the level of progress in this country is still slow and stilled.

After the total abuse of Police officers by influential Nigerians, they’ve switched to DSS officers.

tosin adesina