The Book is titled: Manning the Gates: Essays in Honour of Yusuf Magaji Bichi, CFR, fwc. The honoree, (born 23 February 1956), is the current Director General, State Services (DGSS). The term “gates” is operationalized in the Book to mean Nigeria’s land, air and maritime borders, which are serially breached by criminal elements within and outside the country. A similar situation is witnessed in many other parts of the world – most especially America and Europe. That is why Borders Security is a key campaign issue in different parts of the developed world today.
The emphasis of the publication under review, is on the competing mechanisms for safeguarding the Gates. The work takes off with the Foreword, written by the Commandant of the National Institute for Security Studies (NIIS) Bwari, Alhaji A.S. Adeleke (fsi+, mni, fspsp, FICCON). He has been in career partnership with the honoree since the 1980s and paints him in glowing terms. He concluded the Foreword with an exhortation to all and sundry: “I wish to crave the indulgence of all lovers of Peace, Stability and Development in Nigeria, to find time to read the book to further enrich their knowledge of the Security Architecture of our Nation”. The Commandant’s submission is followed by the Goodwill Message of P.C. Nwaoduah (OFR), a former DG of the SS. He particularly thanked Mr. Adeleke and his staff for honoring Alhaji Bichi,CFR, fwc and most especially, for turning the NISS into a Centre of Academic Excellence.
The Book itself consists of 35 Chapters broken into five interlinked sections. The only paper in Section A introduces the entire work: the Rationale, Contents and expected contributions to knowledge; and why the Publication is in honour of Bichi. Section B focuses on the operators of the National Security Gates in Nigeria; Customs, Immigrations, the Military, among other agencies. Section C is on how the Gates are manned. The challenges of manning the gates are discussed in section D, while the last, Section E, focuses on the efforts being made to address the challenges.
The land, air and maritime Gates of Nigeria are metaphorically explained in Chapters 2 and 3 by the Editors – Karim and Sesay. The specialized ways the Gates are manned are discussed in chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 by Baba Mohammed Azare, Major General Wahab, Group Captain Gumi and Gregory Itotoh respectively. Chapters 8 to 10 take a deeper look at the nature of the Gates: land borders in chapter 8 by Dr. Babatunde Olomu, seaports in chapter 9 by Gloria Ayika, and airports in chapter 10 by Adebowale Ayodele Badejo. The 11th chapter is on the nexus between strategic infrastructure and national security while chapter 12, which concludes Section B of the Book focuses on the role of the National Park Service in managing Nigeria’s national security.
The three papers in Section Care on cross cutting issues in manning Nigeria’s NationalSecurity Gates. They are; on food security (chapter 13), the role of the media (chapter 14) and nation building and diversity management (chapter 15). The papers were written by Olayinka Karim, Peter Afunnaya, and Sale Dauda respectively. The focus on Section D is on the challenges to effective management of the borders and the issues addressed here include diplomacy (chapter 16) by Ambassador Ali Magashi; the role of the youth (chapter 17) by AA Karim; the challenges posed by religion (chapter 18), by Michael Maduagwu; illegal refineries in the Niger Delta (chapter 19) by JC Duru; separatist agitations (chapter 20) discussed by Adah Miriam Uben and Olajumoke Ayandele; the effects of climate change on intelligence and security operations (chapter 21) by Olukayode Oyesiku; electoral violence (chapter 22) by AA Karim; and emotional intelligence (chapter 23) by Felicia Olaseinde-Williams.
Section E concludes the work with 12 chapters focusing on the efforts at managing the challenges. The first paper there is chapter 24, on the achievements of the Directorate of Intelligence under the leadership of Yusuf Magaji Bichi, CFR, fsi. The chapter, by Kabiru Sani, sheds deeper light on the professional accomplishments of the Director General of the DSS in whose honour this Book is done. The papers that follow call attention to the strategic interventions for strengthening borders management in Nigeria. Chapter 25, written by Brown Ekwoaba, focuses on training and retraining; chapter 26 by Inemesit Emmanuel is on mastering the craft of intelligence; and chapter 27 by Adegboyega Karim and Peter Afunanya on the future of intelligence agencies and operations in manning borders in Nigeria. The functionalist approach to tackling the contemporary security challenges in Nigeria is addressed in chapter 28 by Abayomi Sogunle, while. Chapter 29 is on the politics of peacebuilding and conflict resolution by Oshita Osang Oshita. Chapter 30, authored by Saheed Lasisis, is on energy governance and national security in Nigeria.
Yusuf Lawal authored chapter 31 on the challenges of managing public examinations in Nigeria, with particular reference to the Joint Matriculation Examinations Board (JAMB). Chapter 32 is on intelligence production, dissemination and the challenges in manning the Security Gates. It is authored by GB Eteng while chapter 33, by Bashiru Aliyu, speaks to the imperatives of using technology for strengthening the surveillance system. Medical support services could also help, and it is an issue that is addressed in chapter 34 by Abubakar Sadiq Alhassan. The last chapter, 35, is on the role of theatre in the promotion of national security, by Mohammed Inuwa Umar-Buratai.
The Book has undoubtedly achieved two strategic objectives. The first is the great honour it has done Yusuf Magaji Bichi, the DG of DSS. I congratulate him for meriting this attention while still alive and in active service. Not everybody is that lucky. The issues addressed by the publication, which is the second factor for noting, adds to Bichi’s luck: Manning Nigeria’s Gates. It is a subject matter of increasing global importance. Here in Nigeria, many of the problems we have today are tied to our border problems: arms smuggling, foreign fighters, drugs, human trafficking and so on. Producing a Book that takes a holistic look at how the problems are being managed by Nigeria is no mean task. The publication explains what the challenges are, how they are being dealt with, the gaps left to be filled and the efforts being made at filling them, not only by Nigeria but also by other members of the international community. This would give the book a worldwide readership.
I noticed three important gaps that have to be filled by a revised edition of the Book. The first has to do with the nagging question of interagency collaboration in managing Nigeria’s security challenges. The essays in this book render excellent accounts of what each of the agencies did and are doing but not much is said about how they are collaborating. In today’s world, security agencies can no longer work in silos. What kind of collaborative efforts would make the manning of Nigeria’s borders better? How do the agencies train together and work across services? It is not just a matter of their exchanging information alone. The second question that should be answered pertains to what Nigeria has to learn from globalization. What do we have to learn from borders management the developed world? Answering these questions would enable us to be better informed about the roles of international diplomacy in keeping our borders safe. The third concern pertains to the need to mainstream gender in borders management. This is made necessary by the increasing rate at which women are getting implicated in borders-related security breaches.
It is necessary to commend the Editors of the Book for a work well done. I assess manuscripts for leading publishers in different parts of the world and I could say from such a standpoint that this is a standard Book that could compete with any others globally. I commend the National Institute of Security Studies that published the work.
May 21, 2025
January 21, 2024
December 26, 2023