For decades, the relationship between Nigeria’s intelligence community and the media has been defined by suspicion. Security agencies have viewed journalists as potential conduits for sensitive information, while journalists have often seen the security establishment as an institution too willing to invoke national security to restrict legitimate scrutiny. It is a difficult relationship, but in a democracy, it is one that must be managed with maturity. Something, however, appears to be changing. At the centre of that change is the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi.
Since assuming office in August 2024, Ajayi has increasingly projected a different philosophy of intelligence leadership; one built around professional engagement, preventive intelligence, community participation, institutional accountability and a more constructive relationship with the media. The significance of this emerging approach goes beyond the personality of the man leading the DSS. If sustained, it could mark the gradual development of
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