By Abdullahi M. Gulloma
The relationship between those who guard the state and those who tell its story has always been delicate. One watches for threats in the shadows; the other shines light into public spaces. When mistrust grows between them, democracy suffers. When understanding emerges, citizens breathe easier. Nigeria has lived through both seasons, and recent events around the Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, suggest that the country is entering a more stable chapter in that long and uneasy conversation.
On December 19, Ajayi put his thoughts into writing. In a letter personally signed and sent to the president of the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria, Musikilu Mojeed, the SSS Director-General pledged to stand for fair treatment of journalists and to support an environment where media professionals can carry out their lawful work without fear. The letter was not prompted by a crisis or public outrage. It was a response to a commendation award conferred on him by the IPI Nigeria at its annual conference earlier in the month, but its tone and substance went beyond gratitude. It read like a statement of belief.
“I will continue to champion fair treatment of journalists and create a conducive atmosphere for them to carry out their legitimate duties”, Ajayi wrote. He added that he had begun discussions with heads of other security agencies, urging them to place the safety and dignity of journalists high on their list of responsibilities.
Words matter, but history teaches that actions matter more. For decades, Nigeria’s media community has known the SSS less for dialogue and more for fear. Arrests at odd hours, prolonged detentions and intimidation were familiar stories. This past made scepticism natural. That is why the response from IPI Nigeria was striking, not just for its praise, but for the detailed record it laid out.
In a statement signed by its Secretary, Ahmed I. Shekarau, the IPI recalled that since Ajayi assumed office in late August 2024, the SSS had shown restraint, professionalism and openness. “Conflicts between the Service and the media are now resolved amicably through engagement rather than coercion,” the statement said, drawing a clear contrast with earlier years.
The philosopher Hannah Arendt once observed that “power and violence are opposites; where one rules absolutely, the other is absent.” The shift described by IPI Nigeria points to a leadership choice that values authority predicated on dialogue instead of force. It is a choice that recognises journalists not as enemies of the state, but as part of the civic ecosystem that keeps the state honest.
The examples cited by IPI Nigeria bring this shift down from theory to practical experience. Barely hours into Ajayi’s tenure, a journalist, Adejuwon Soyinka, was intercepted and detained in Lagos. Such an incident could easily have followed a familiar path of silence and delay. Instead, according to IPI Nigeria, once the matter was brought to the Director-General’s attention, he ordered the journalist’s release within hours. Speed, in this context, signalled that the old reflexes were no longer automatic.
Another case bore deeper historical wounds. Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director of the International Press Centre, had for decades endured repeated harassment at Nigeria’s borders due to an SSS watch-list entry dating back to the 1980s. Successive assurances under past administrations failed to end the ordeal. When the issue reached Ajayi, IPI Nigeria said he acted swiftly to resolve it.
Even in moments when the SSS felt wronged, the approach under Ajayi appeared thoughtful. In the case involving Order Paper, where a staff member was arrested over a report alleging that the SSS invaded the National Assembly to influence leadership change, the Director-General ordered administrative bail once informed. Through engagement, the matter was resolved, charges were withdrawn and the case was closed. The message was that errors in reporting should be addressed with facts and conversation and not detention.
A similar posture emerged in February during tensions over media reports on the Lagos State House of Assembly crisis. IPI Nigeria acknowledged that the SSS had reasons to be aggrieved but noted that the Director-General chose patience and collaboration.
Perhaps the most telling moment came in October. Without external pressure, Ajayi ordered disciplinary action against officers involved in the arrest and detention of two journalists from Jay 101.9 FM in Jos. He also directed that a formal apology be issued to the journalists and their organisation. In public service, apologies are rare. When they come, they carry the power to humanise institutions that often appear faceless and distant.
Writers have long argued that accountability begins with humility. Chinua Achebe once noted that “the trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.” Leadership, in this sense, is not about perfection but about the willingness to openly correct wrongs. Disciplining erring officers and offering an apology signalled that internal standards matter, and that authority does not shield misconduct.
It was against this backdrop that IPI Nigeria decided to honour Ajayi at its 2025 Annual Conference on December 2 in Abuja. The IPI Nigeria made it clear that the commendation was not an end in itself. It was recognition and encouragement. “We do so not only to acknowledge his commendable press freedom credentials but also to encourage him to do even more and to inspire other officials, institutions, and organisations to emulate his example,” IPI Nigeria said.
Recognition soon reached the highest office in the country. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu congratulated the Director-General of the SSS on the award, welcoming it as evidence that the SSS was changing its narrative. The president commended Ajayi for upholding citizens’ rights and operating within the law, noting that the SSS was building a climate of dialogue and engagement with the public.
President Tinubu urged other security agencies to see the media as partners rather than adversaries. In doing so, the president echoed the words of Thomas Jefferson, who famously argued that a free press was essential to liberty. While Jefferson spoke from a different century and context, the principle endures: societies thrive when information flows freely and responsibly.
The president also encouraged the SSS to sustain its efforts to protect journalists, reminding all that the constitution empowers the media to hold government officials accountable. The public presidential endorsement matters. It shows that respect for the press is not only the choice of a single agency head, but a principle woven into the wider culture of governance.
For journalists across the country, these developments offer cautious hope. Hope is not built on blind faith, but on observable patterns. The early release of a detained reporter, the clearing of a decades-old watch-list, the withdrawal of charges after dialogue and the disciplining of erring officers are concrete markers. They suggest an understanding that national security and press freedom are not rivals locked in a zero-sum game, but parallel duties that serve the same public.
Psychologists remind us that institutions, like individuals, develop habits. Changing habits requires consistent choices. Ajayi’s pledge to engage other security agencies on journalist protection hints at an attempt to spread a new habit across the security sector. Whether this effort succeeds will depend on persistence and example.
As the country continues its democratic journey, the media will remain critical, sometimes uncomfortable and often screaming. That is its role. Security agencies will remain vigilant, cautious and sometimes suspicious. That is theirs. The challenge is not to erase these differences, but to manage them with respect.
In recognising Ajayi, the IPI Nigeria did more than hand out an award. It held up a mirror, showing what is possible when leadership chooses conversation over intimidation. President Tinubu’s endorsement reinforced that image, placing it within the wider story of governance reform.
The German philosopher Jürgen Habermas spoke of the “public sphere” as a space where citizens debate issues freely. Journalists are custodians of that space. When security agencies protect rather than shrink it, they serve democracy in its truest sense.
Nigeria’s story is still being written, line by line, headline by headline. The pen and the badge will continue to meet at tense moments. But recent chapters suggest that they can meet without hostility, guided by law, conscience and mutual respect. If that path is sustained, the reward will not belong to any single institution. It will belong to the citizens whose right to know and right to be safe are finally treated as equally sacred.
•Gulloma is a journalist and can be reached at abdulgulloma@yahoo.com
