Let us start on a good footing before we return to the matter at hand. Happy Sallah to all our Muslim brothers and sisters and I hope the rest of you had a good holiday. For all of us collectively, I hope you had time to reflect and ponder as to where we are as a nation and where we are going. Indeed, for me it was particularly a time for deep reflection.
I have been away for a little over three weeks and I apologise to all our readers who continue to keep the faith. But I am back. While I was away I had some thoughts which I would like to share concerning our collective heritage as Nigerians and how we manage information and intelligence generally.
As a people we like parties. We like enjoyment but we also like to talk and therein lies a national problem. Talk is good when it is productive. It is not when it is unsolicited and it becomes an arsenal, a ticking bomb.
I will give you a backstory before we get where we are going on this. When I was a little girl, my father would say, not everything you hear is to be repeated and not everything you see is to be spoken about. Some things, he would say, are best kept to your chest. I am generally a very discerning person and could keep information for the longest if I am trusted with it.
But I find that aside the internet where everything is fair play including but not limited to where you are going, who you are sleeping with, how you feel and other such private and unsolicited information, Nigerians tend to carry on when it is not required.
Take the British for instance. They are quite capable of talking to you about the weather and culture and new music throughout a cocktail party that lasts two hours. We, on the other hand are talking about our troops and their exact location as told to us by a senior security officer who is a friend or a cousin serving in some security zone who has given you high level information which you now share at a social gathering crawling with members of the international community. Merde! How does a nation come back from a difficult security situation as we are in when there are leaks everywhere from beer parlours to salons? And sometimes in the media, with a lot of journalists with no training in discernment, foreign policy and national security? Not all information is cannon fodder.
Our troops are at risk when we speak casually about what is going on and discuss what we know and what we don’t. It is disheartening when we cross the lines on security and describe it as investigative journalism. But sections of the media are not alone in dealing with this complete lack of discernment in relation to matters of national security. It has become a national sport.
So you are seating at an airport and a self-entitled man decides to discuss Boko Haram and other insurgencies in the country. Speaking at a high pitched tone, he proceeds to lecture us all in the waiting room about how he is a security expert and how he could have done better than everyone else in the security apparatchik if he were given a chance. He dismisses everyone in the hierarchy and proceeds to say unprintable things. All in a waiting room with a select group of Indians, Chinese, Lebanese and one American.
A sense of shame washes over me. My mum would slap you if you spoke out of turn and out of place in front of strangers. There are appropriate places for such a discussion and certainly not an airport lounge where you are the only one speaking to no one in particular.
Then there are taxi drivers who serve as a major source of intelligence, if properly deployed all over the world. Some Nigerians proceed to make phone calls about large sums of money and discuss private and security matters in a taxi with their phones on speaker. Ehm… do you recall that this taxi driver is not your family?
Some of the most incredible stories about what the security situation, where I should or should not go at night and where I can find persons drunk and sharing money from God knows where have been told to me by taxi drivers. Imagine!
When I was still in service, I used to be gobsmacked by the amount of information junior officers told me from meetings they did not attend. Mostly sensitive issues, sometimes they were promotion issues. While I kept my mouth shut about these issues until they are pronounced officially, it was difficult for me to understand why a subordinate officer would come to thank me for some official trip, promotion or opportunity which I felt was still been processed and which can in fact be reversed if a better candidate was found or if a pending candidate was found wanting. The grins and gesticulations and profuse thankfulness to embarrassed me. Someone from within the inner echelon of the meeting had spilled the beans; sometimes your very words from a meeting are played back especially if it concerned a disciplinary matter.
Many secretaries are no longer discerning and give out sensitive documents for the beer. And pray tell, how do sensitive documents not meant for circulation make their way online from the highest offices in the land?
Something is wrong with a nation where word of mouth gossip and loose talk, internet spillages of sensitive information and high level security matters are falling in the hands of taxi drivers. How is information to be managed in Nigeria? How should civil servants behave in the face of sensitive material? The rule books tell us but we find memos been used to wrap corn and bean cake across the land.
Something is wrong and is deeply affecting intelligence, security and diplomacy. How can we relearn that not everything is post-worthy, that talking loudly about sensitive issues on your phone in a taxi is a no-no? How do we tell people who attend social events at embassies not to discuss Nigeria’s security issues? Really all they offered was meat pies, fruits, suya and a couple of drinks. This should ordinarily not loosen your tongue. How do we protect ourselves and halt this malady?
Gathering and protecting intelligence in Nigeria is a tough call. There is a lot of flippancy and believe me it’s not from the street boys and girls, but some high ranking and respected members of the community.
Can we pause and talk about the weather please?
Eugenia Abu
