Years ago, I watched a recording of the live performance of Ola Rotimi’s famous 1971 play Kurumi, starring the formidable thespian, the late Jimi Solanke, as Kurumi himself. It was a long time ago, but one scene still stands out in my memory: when the tortoise is heading for a senseless journey, and you say to him, “Brother Tortoise, Brother Tortoise, when will you be wise and come back home?” The tortoise will reply: Not until I have been disgraced!” That scene was made especially memorable because of the talking drummers on the stage who sonorously re-echoed the last part of that proverb with their drums, “…Disgraced! Disgraced! Not until I have been disgraced!” If I can find those drummers, I’d like to hire them and have them replay that part again, this time in front of the DSS headquarters. Following DSS’ announcement that they are suspending their “cyberbullying” case against news publisher, social activist, and AAC presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, they will deserve such derision.If there is an organisation that repeatedly plays the role of “brother tortoise” in its hounding of an individual, it is the DSS. For some reason, it never seems to think through its tactics, and so they return from the legal front covered in dirt, dust, and disgrace. The saga that culminated in its latest battle began with taking umbrage at Sowore’s describing Bola Tinubu as “criminal”, which—as far as I am concerned—is not the most outrageous thing one can say to a president, but the DSS took it personally. When threats to make him take down the post did not work, it issued an ultimatum to Meta, Inc., demanding that it remove the post and deactivate Sowore’s Facebook page. The DSS threatened “far-reaching consequences” if Meta failed to comply immediately. As I pointed out then, those corporations are headquartered in a country where social media users routinely describe their president as “felon” (along with other names too indecorous to print), and the heavens do not fall. Nobody’s social media account has been deactivated for insulting the US president; why would they do so for one small-minded leader of a banana republic elsewhere? Of all the things bothering Nigeria and which should be high up on the DSS’ priority list, why this? It did not listen. The DSS filed a five-count criminal charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja, naming Meta and X Corp as co-defendants.Once it got started on that journey, it also had to see it through, even when it realised Sowore was not the regular Nigerian it could intimidate. It underestimated the size of his resolve—and intransigence. His legal team outwitted them by pulling out the instances of Tinubu himself criticising sitting past presidents with what amounted to ethnic slurs. I am sure the DSS ultimately regretted that their actions led to digging up Tinubu’s soiled linen. By the time Sowore’s legal team dragged out the critics-turned-bottom-kissers like Reno Omokri and Femi Fani-Kayode, the case had become a liability of sorts.The whole affair must have been embarrassing for Tinubu (and his tribe of sycophants) because it not only shows he deserves all the insults he gets as President, but also that he is the typical schoolyard bully who cannot take what he dishes out. Not only have the court proceedings shown that insulting Tinubu aligns with the natural laws of sowing and reaping, but he also comes out looking like a terribly insecure person who uses the force of the law to persecute critics he cannot buy off. Given the blowback from pursuing that case alone, I do not think the DSS will escalate their previous commitment to bad judgment by reactivating the disgrace after the 2027 election. This is the point where they conveniently develop sudden institutional amnesia.Related NewsNDC demands INEC portal audit over 10 Anambra candidatesItauma gets advice after Hrgovic lossDangote links refinery growth to Tinubu reformsYou look at the amount of effort they invested in nurturing Tinubu’s ruffled feathers, and you wonder: why are these guys so unserious? Their claim that calling Tinubu a “criminal” exposed him to “psychological attacks” on social media is a most laughable one. Look, if someone stands up in a room where Tinubu is and randomly shouts “criminal!” I can bet that even the man himself will instinctively look up in response! It is a label he cannot claim to be unfamiliar with, yes! We are talking about a man with no known record of economic productivity yet boasts that he is richer than an entire state in the federation. What exactly does he do for a living that he accumulated so much? That is the person the DSS thought it was worth frittering away institutional integrity to fight for!In the past weeks, the old questions about his educational qualifications have resurfaced, timed to make him uncomfortable as he faces another election. Neither the man nor his spin doctors can still answer who he is or where he has been. All they can tell us is to “move on” since the man at least has a verifiable university degree. Yes, but why is it so difficult for your man to answer questions about himself? He is one president in history who dares not open his mouth and narrate his own biography because his past is too shrouded in lies, mysteries, and evasions. To the best of my knowledge, Tinubu is the only Nigerian president ever who cannot name his father. We have had presidents who are sadistic and even borderline psychopathic, but none like Tinubu, who simply has no past.He is what the Yoruba call an àkúdàáyà, a ghost creature that resurfaces under another identity and disappears if you probe its personal history. Except that the àkúdàáyà, as president, cannot just vanish, so he keeps using forced silences and legal manoeuvres to keep his past buried. He is presently fighting in a US court to prevent the release of records relating to FBI investigations allegedly involving him. You wonder what record of crime those files contain that makes him so desperate. There must be something else in them other than the already public information on drug trafficking and money laundering. So, if a man cannot point out his own biological parents, keeps his educational trajectory under wraps, and even his career path has some question marks, is calling him a “criminal” out of line? I do not see any reputational damage that can be done to such a person. What was the DSS thinking when they deployed public resources to defend someone like that? Not only does the law allow us to criticise the president, but Tinubu is also not the kind of person whose reputation you sacrifice yourself to defend. Sometimes you get the impression that the president’s appointees do not think themselves worthy of the positions they occupy and overcompensate by trying too hard to be seen as loyal to the individual rather than to the nation.Finally, Sowore called for the immediate removal of the DSS DG, Tosin Ajayi, accusing him of using the intelligence agency to pursue a personal vendetta. I agree that the ṣekárími politics of subservience, eye service, and “I-remain-loyal” that clouded DSS’ judgment should be checked. Even if the instruction to prosecute Sowore came to the DSS from Aso Rock, the DG should still be removed for bringing disparagement to the agency by not thinking through its line of action. It also means it lacks the capacity to think independently, to divine how the case could go without being clouded by the emotional frenzy that blind loyalists and professional sycophants whipped up on the issue. Their jump into the thoughtless exercise of threatening social media companies, suing them, prosecuting Sowore, dragging the case out for almost a year, and then backing down shows that not much reasoning goes into running that agency. If there is an organisation that repeatedly plays the role of “brother tortoise” in its hounding of an individual, it is the DSS. For some reason, it never seems to think through its tactics, and so they return from the legal front covered in dirt, dust, and disgrace. The saga that culminated in its latest battle began with taking umbrage at Sowore’s describing Bola Tinubu as “criminal”, which—as far as I am concerned—is not the most outrageous thing one can say to a president, but the DSS took it personally. When threats to make him take down the post did not work, it issued an ultimatum to Meta, Inc., demanding that it remove the post and deactivate Sowore’s Facebook page. The DSS threatened “far-reaching consequences” if Meta failed to comply immediately. As I pointed out then, those corporations are headquartered in a country where social media users routinely describe their president as “felon” (along with other names too indecorous to print), and the heavens do not fall. Nobody’s social media account has been deactivated for insulting the US president; why would they do so for one small-minded leader of a banana republic elsewhere? Of all the things bothering Nigeria and which should be high up on the DSS’ priority list, why this? It did not listen. The DSS filed a five-count criminal charge at the Federal High Court in Abuja, naming Meta and X Corp as co-defendants.Once it got started on that journey, it also had to see it through, even when it realised Sowore was not the regular Nigerian it could intimidate. It underestimated the size of his resolve—and intransigence. His legal team outwitted them by pulling out the instances of Tinubu himself criticising sitting past presidents with what amounted to ethnic slurs. I am sure the DSS ultimately regretted that their actions led to digging up Tinubu’s soiled linen. By the time Sowore’s legal team dragged out the critics-turned-bottom-kissers like Reno Omokri and Femi Fani-Kayode, the case had become a liability of sorts.The whole affair must have been embarrassing for Tinubu (and his tribe of sycophants) because it not only shows he deserves all the insults he gets as President, but also that he is the typical schoolyard bully who cannot take what he dishes out. Not only have the court proceedings shown that insulting Tinubu aligns with the natural laws of sowing and reaping, but he also comes out looking like a terribly insecure person who uses the force of the law to persecute critics he cannot buy off. Given the blowback from pursuing that case alone, I do not think the DSS will escalate their previous commitment to bad judgment by reactivating the disgrace after the 2027 election. This is the point where they conveniently develop sudden institutional amnesia.Related NewsNDC demands INEC portal audit over 10 Anambra candidatesItauma gets advice after Hrgovic lossDangote links refinery growth to Tinubu reformsYou look at the amount of effort they invested in nurturing Tinubu’s ruffled feathers, and you wonder: why are these guys so unserious? Their claim that calling Tinubu a “criminal” exposed him to “psychological attacks” on social media is a most laughable one. Look, if someone stands up in a room where Tinubu is and randomly shouts “criminal!” I can bet that even the man himself will instinctively look up in response! It is a label he cannot claim to be unfamiliar with, yes! We are talking about a man with no known record of economic productivity yet boasts that he is richer than an entire state in the federation. What exactly does he do for a living that he accumulated so much? That is the person the DSS thought it was worth frittering away institutional integrity to fight for!In the past weeks, the old questions about his educational qualifications have resurfaced, timed to make him uncomfortable as he faces another election. Neither the man nor his spin doctors can still answer who he is or where he has been. All they can tell us is to “move on” since the man at least has a verifiable university degree. Yes, but why is it so difficult for your man to answer questions about himself? He is one president in history who dares not open his mouth and narrate his own biography because his past is too shrouded in lies, mysteries, and evasions. To the best of my knowledge, Tinubu is the only Nigerian president ever who cannot name his father. We have had presidents who are sadistic and even borderline psychopathic, but none like Tinubu, who simply has no past.He is what the Yoruba call an àkúdàáyà, a ghost creature that resurfaces under another identity and disappears if you probe its personal history. Except that the àkúdàáyà, as president, cannot just vanish, so he keeps using forced silences and legal manoeuvres to keep his past buried. He is presently fighting in a US court to prevent the release of records relating to FBI investigations allegedly involving him. You wonder what record of crime those files contain that makes him so desperate. There must be something else in them other than the already public information on drug trafficking and money laundering. So, if a man cannot point out his own biological parents, keeps his educational trajectory under wraps, and even his career path has some question marks, is calling him a “criminal” out of line? I do not see any reputational damage that can be done to such a person. What was the DSS thinking when they deployed public resources to defend someone like that? Not only does the law allow us to criticise the president, but Tinubu is also not the kind of person whose reputation you sacrifice yourself to defend. Sometimes you get the impression that the president’s appointees do not think themselves worthy of the positions they occupy and overcompensate by trying too hard to be seen as loyal to the individual rather than to the nation.Finally, Sowore called for the immediate removal of the DSS DG, Tosin Ajayi, accusing him of using the intelligence agency to pursue a personal vendetta. I agree that the ṣekárími politics of subservience, eye service, and “I-remain-loyal” that clouded DSS’ judgment should be checked. Even if the instruction to prosecute Sowore came to the DSS from Aso Rock, the DG should still be removed for bringing disparagement to the agency by not thinking through its line of action. It also means it lacks the capacity to think independently, to divine how the case could go without being clouded by the emotional frenzy that blind loyalists and professional sycophants whipped up on the issue. Their jump into the thoughtless exercise of threatening social media companies, suing them, prosecuting Sowore, dragging the case out for almost a year, and then backing down shows that not much reasoning goes into running that agency. Once it got started on that journey, it also had to see it through, even when it realised Sowore was not the regular Nigerian it could intimidate. It underestimated the size of his resolve—and intransigence. His legal team outwitted them by pulling out the instances of Tinubu himself criticising sitting past presidents with what amounted to ethnic slurs. I am sure the DSS ultimately regretted that their actions led to digging up Tinubu’s soiled linen. By the time Sowore’s legal team dragged out the critics-turned-bottom-kissers like Reno Omokri and Femi Fani-Kayode, the case had become a liability of sorts.The whole affair must have been embarrassing for Tinubu (and his tribe of sycophants) because it not only shows he deserves all the insults he gets as President, but also that he is the typical schoolyard bully who cannot take what he dishes out. Not only have the court proceedings shown that insulting Tinubu aligns with the natural laws of sowing and reaping, but he also comes out looking like a terribly insecure person who uses the force of the law to persecute critics he cannot buy off. Given the blowback from pursuing that case alone, I do not think the DSS will escalate their previous commitment to bad judgment by reactivating the disgrace after the 2027 election. This is the point where they conveniently develop sudden institutional amnesia.Related NewsNDC demands INEC portal audit over 10 Anambra candidatesItauma gets advice after Hrgovic lossDangote links refinery growth to Tinubu reformsYou look at the amount of effort they invested in nurturing Tinubu’s ruffled feathers, and you wonder: why are these guys so unserious? Their claim that calling Tinubu a “criminal” exposed him to “psychological attacks” on social media is a most laughable one. Look, if someone stands up in a room where Tinubu is and randomly shouts “criminal!” I can bet that even the man himself will instinctively look up in response! It is a label he cannot claim to be unfamiliar with, yes! We are talking about a man with no known record of economic productivity yet boasts that he is richer than an entire state in the federation. What exactly does he do for a living that he accumulated so much? That is the person the DSS thought it was worth frittering away institutional integrity to fight for!In the past weeks, the old questions about his educational qualifications have resurfaced, timed to make him uncomfortable as he faces another election. Neither the man nor his spin doctors can still answer who he is or where he has been. All they can tell us is to “move on” since the man at least has a verifiable university degree. Yes, but why is it so difficult for your man to answer questions about himself? He is one president in history who dares not open his mouth and narrate his own biography because his past is too shrouded in lies, mysteries, and evasions. To the best of my knowledge, Tinubu is the only Nigerian president ever who cannot name his father. We have had presidents who are sadistic and even borderline psychopathic, but none like Tinubu, who simply has no past.He is what the Yoruba call an àkúdàáyà, a ghost creature that resurfaces under another identity and disappears if you probe its personal history. Except that the àkúdàáyà, as president, cannot just vanish, so he keeps using forced silences and legal manoeuvres to keep his past buried. He is presently fighting in a US court to prevent the release of records relating to FBI investigations allegedly involving him. You wonder what record of crime those files contain that makes him so desperate. There must be something else in them other than the already public information on drug trafficking and money laundering. So, if a man cannot point out his own biological parents, keeps his educational trajectory under wraps, and even his career path has some question marks, is calling him a “criminal” out of line? I do not see any reputational damage that can be done to such a person. What was the DSS thinking when they deployed public resources to defend someone like that? Not only does the law allow us to criticise the president, but Tinubu is also not the kind of person whose reputation you sacrifice yourself to defend. Sometimes you get the impression that the president’s appointees do not think themselves worthy of the positions they occupy and overcompensate by trying too hard to be seen as loyal to the individual rather than to the nation.Finally, Sowore called for the immediate removal of the DSS DG, Tosin Ajayi, accusing him of using the intelligence agency to pursue a personal vendetta. I agree that the ṣekárími politics of subservience, eye service, and “I-remain-loyal” that clouded DSS’ judgment should be checked. Even if the instruction to prosecute Sowore came to the DSS from Aso Rock, the DG should still be removed for bringing disparagement to the agency by not thinking through its line of action. It also means it lacks the capacity to think independently, to divine how the case could go without being clouded by the emotional frenzy that blind loyalists and professional sycophants whipped up on the issue. Their jump into the thoughtless exercise of threatening social media companies, suing them, prosecuting Sowore, dragging the case out for almost a year, and then backing down shows that not much reasoning goes into running that agency. The whole affair must have been embarrassing for Tinubu (and his tribe of sycophants) because it not only shows he deserves all the insults he gets as President, but also that he is the typical schoolyard bully who cannot take what he dishes out. Not only have the court proceedings shown that insulting Tinubu aligns with the natural laws of sowing and reaping, but he also comes out looking like a terribly insecure person who uses the force of the law to persecute critics he cannot buy off. Given the blowback from pursuing that case alone, I do not think the DSS will escalate their previous commitment to bad judgment by reactivating the disgrace after the 2027 election. This is the point where they conveniently develop sudden institutional amnesia.Related NewsNDC demands INEC portal audit over 10 Anambra candidatesItauma gets advice after Hrgovic lossDangote links refinery growth to Tinubu reformsYou look at the amount of effort they invested in nurturing Tinubu’s ruffled feathers, and you wonder: why are these guys so unserious? Their claim that calling Tinubu a “criminal” exposed him to “psychological attacks” on social media is a most laughable one. Look, if someone stands up in a room where Tinubu is and randomly shouts “criminal!” I can bet that even the man himself will instinctively look up in response! It is a label he cannot claim to be unfamiliar with, yes! We are talking about a man with no known record of economic productivity yet boasts that he is richer than an entire state in the federation. What exactly does he do for a living that he accumulated so much? That is the person the DSS thought it was worth frittering away institutional integrity to fight for!In the past weeks, the old questions about his educational qualifications have resurfaced, timed to make him uncomfortable as he faces another election. Neither the man nor his spin doctors can still answer who he is or where he has been. All they can tell us is to “move on” since the man at least has a verifiable university degree. Yes, but why is it so difficult for your man to answer questions about himself? He is one president in history who dares not open his mouth and narrate his own biography because his past is too shrouded in lies, mysteries, and evasions. To the best of my knowledge, Tinubu is the only Nigerian president ever who cannot name his father. We have had presidents who are sadistic and even borderline psychopathic, but none like Tinubu, who simply has no past.He is what the Yoruba call an àkúdàáyà, a ghost creature that resurfaces under another identity and disappears if you probe its personal history. Except that the àkúdàáyà, as president, cannot just vanish, so he keeps using forced silences and legal manoeuvres to keep his past buried. He is presently fighting in a US court to prevent the release of records relating to FBI investigations allegedly involving him. You wonder what record of crime those files contain that makes him so desperate. There must be something else in them other than the already public information on drug trafficking and money laundering. So, if a man cannot point out his own biological parents, keeps his educational trajectory under wraps, and even his career path has some question marks, is calling him a “criminal” out of line? I do not see any reputational damage that can be done to such a person. What was the DSS thinking when they deployed public resources to defend someone like that? Not only does the law allow us to criticise the president, but Tinubu is also not the kind of person whose reputation you sacrifice yourself to defend. Sometimes you get the impression that the president’s appointees do not think themselves worthy of the positions they occupy and overcompensate by trying too hard to be seen as loyal to the individual rather than to the nation.Finally, Sowore called for the immediate removal of the DSS DG, Tosin Ajayi, accusing him of using the intelligence agency to pursue a personal vendetta. I agree that the ṣekárími politics of subservience, eye service, and “I-remain-loyal” that clouded DSS’ judgment should be checked. Even if the instruction to prosecute Sowore came to the DSS from Aso Rock, the DG should still be removed for bringing disparagement to the agency by not thinking through its line of action. It also means it lacks the capacity to think independently, to divine how the case could go without being clouded by the emotional frenzy that blind loyalists and professional sycophants whipped up on the issue. Their jump into the thoughtless exercise of threatening social media companies, suing them, prosecuting Sowore, dragging the case out for almost a year, and then backing down shows that not much reasoning goes into running that agency. You look at the amount of effort they invested in nurturing Tinubu’s ruffled feathers, and you wonder: why are these guys so unserious? Their claim that calling Tinubu a “criminal” exposed him to “psychological attacks” on social media is a most laughable one. Look, if someone stands up in a room where Tinubu is and randomly shouts “criminal!” I can bet that even the man himself will instinctively look up in response! It is a label he cannot claim to be unfamiliar with, yes! We are talking about a man with no known record of economic productivity yet boasts that he is richer than an entire state in the federation. What exactly does he do for a living that he accumulated so much? That is the person the DSS thought it was worth frittering away institutional integrity to fight for!In the past weeks, the old questions about his educational qualifications have resurfaced, timed to make him uncomfortable as he faces another election. Neither the man nor his spin doctors can still answer who he is or where he has been. All they can tell us is to “move on” since the man at least has a verifiable university degree. Yes, but why is it so difficult for your man to answer questions about himself? He is one president in history who dares not open his mouth and narrate his own biography because his past is too shrouded in lies, mysteries, and evasions. To the best of my knowledge, Tinubu is the only Nigerian president ever who cannot name his father. We have had presidents who are sadistic and even borderline psychopathic, but none like Tinubu, who simply has no past.He is what the Yoruba call an àkúdàáyà, a ghost creature that resurfaces under another identity and disappears if you probe its personal history. Except that the àkúdàáyà, as president, cannot just vanish, so he keeps using forced silences and legal manoeuvres to keep his past buried. He is presently fighting in a US court to prevent the release of records relating to FBI investigations allegedly involving him. You wonder what record of crime those files contain that makes him so desperate. There must be something else in them other than the already public information on drug trafficking and money laundering. So, if a man cannot point out his own biological parents, keeps his educational trajectory under wraps, and even his career path has some question marks, is calling him a “criminal” out of line? I do not see any reputational damage that can be done to such a person. What was the DSS thinking when they deployed public resources to defend someone like that? Not only does the law allow us to criticise the president, but Tinubu is also not the kind of person whose reputation you sacrifice yourself to defend. Sometimes you get the impression that the president’s appointees do not think themselves worthy of the positions they occupy and overcompensate by trying too hard to be seen as loyal to the individual rather than to the nation.Finally, Sowore called for the immediate removal of the DSS DG, Tosin Ajayi, accusing him of using the intelligence agency to pursue a personal vendetta. I agree that the ṣekárími politics of subservience, eye service, and “I-remain-loyal” that clouded DSS’ judgment should be checked. Even if the instruction to prosecute Sowore came to the DSS from Aso Rock, the DG should still be removed for bringing disparagement to the agency by not thinking through its line of action. It also means it lacks the capacity to think independently, to divine how the case could go without being clouded by the emotional frenzy that blind loyalists and professional sycophants whipped up on the issue. Their jump into the thoughtless exercise of threatening social media companies, suing them, prosecuting Sowore, dragging the case out for almost a year, and then backing down shows that not much reasoning goes into running that agency. In the past weeks, the old questions about his educational qualifications have resurfaced, timed to make him uncomfortable as he faces another election. Neither the man nor his spin doctors can still answer who he is or where he has been. All they can tell us is to “move on” since the man at least has a verifiable university degree. Yes, but why is it so difficult for your man to answer questions about himself? He is one president in history who dares not open his mouth and narrate his own biography because his past is too shrouded in lies, mysteries, and evasions. To the best of my knowledge, Tinubu is the only Nigerian president ever who cannot name his father. We have had presidents who are sadistic and even borderline psychopathic, but none like Tinubu, who simply has no past.He is what the Yoruba call an àkúdàáyà, a ghost creature that resurfaces under another identity and disappears if you probe its personal history. Except that the àkúdàáyà, as president, cannot just vanish, so he keeps using forced silences and legal manoeuvres to keep his past buried. He is presently fighting in a US court to prevent the release of records relating to FBI investigations allegedly involving him. You wonder what record of crime those files contain that makes him so desperate. There must be something else in them other than the already public information on drug trafficking and money laundering. So, if a man cannot point out his own biological parents, keeps his educational trajectory under wraps, and even his career path has some question marks, is calling him a “criminal” out of line? I do not see any reputational damage that can be done to such a person. What was the DSS thinking when they deployed public resources to defend someone like that? Not only does the law allow us to criticise the president, but Tinubu is also not the kind of person whose reputation you sacrifice yourself to defend. Sometimes you get the impression that the president’s appointees do not think themselves worthy of the positions they occupy and overcompensate by trying too hard to be seen as loyal to the individual rather than to the nation.Finally, Sowore called for the immediate removal of the DSS DG, Tosin Ajayi, accusing him of using the intelligence agency to pursue a personal vendetta. I agree that the ṣekárími politics of subservience, eye service, and “I-remain-loyal” that clouded DSS’ judgment should be checked. Even if the instruction to prosecute Sowore came to the DSS from Aso Rock, the DG should still be removed for bringing disparagement to the agency by not thinking through its line of action. It also means it lacks the capacity to think independently, to divine how the case could go without being clouded by the emotional frenzy that blind loyalists and professional sycophants whipped up on the issue. Their jump into the thoughtless exercise of threatening social media companies, suing them, prosecuting Sowore, dragging the case out for almost a year, and then backing down shows that not much reasoning goes into running that agency. He is what the Yoruba call an àkúdàáyà, a ghost creature that resurfaces under another identity and disappears if you probe its personal history. Except that the àkúdàáyà, as president, cannot just vanish, so he keeps using forced silences and legal manoeuvres to keep his past buried. He is presently fighting in a US court to prevent the release of records relating to FBI investigations allegedly involving him. You wonder what record of crime those files contain that makes him so desperate. There must be something else in them other than the already public information on drug trafficking and money laundering. So, if a man cannot point out his own biological parents, keeps his educational trajectory under wraps, and even his career path has some question marks, is calling him a “criminal” out of line? I do not see any reputational damage that can be done to such a person. What was the DSS thinking when they deployed public resources to defend someone like that? Not only does the law allow us to criticise the president, but Tinubu is also not the kind of person whose reputation you sacrifice yourself to defend. Sometimes you get the impression that the president’s appointees do not think themselves worthy of the positions they occupy and overcompensate by trying too hard to be seen as loyal to the individual rather than to the nation.Finally, Sowore called for the immediate removal of the DSS DG, Tosin Ajayi, accusing him of using the intelligence agency to pursue a personal vendetta. I agree that the ṣekárími politics of subservience, eye service, and “I-remain-loyal” that clouded DSS’ judgment should be checked. Even if the instruction to prosecute Sowore came to the DSS from Aso Rock, the DG should still be removed for bringing disparagement to the agency by not thinking through its line of action. It also means it lacks the capacity to think independently, to divine how the case could go without being clouded by the emotional frenzy that blind loyalists and professional sycophants whipped up on the issue. Their jump into the thoughtless exercise of threatening social media companies, suing them, prosecuting Sowore, dragging the case out for almost a year, and then backing down shows that not much reasoning goes into running that agency. Finally, Sowore called for the immediate removal of the DSS DG, Tosin Ajayi, accusing him of using the intelligence agency to pursue a personal vendetta. I agree that the ṣekárími politics of subservience, eye service, and “I-remain-loyal” that clouded DSS’ judgment should be checked. Even if the instruction to prosecute Sowore came to the DSS from Aso Rock, the DG should still be removed for bringing disparagement to the agency by not thinking through its line of action. It also means it lacks the capacity to think independently, to divine how the case could go without being clouded by the emotional frenzy that blind loyalists and professional sycophants whipped up on the issue. Their jump into the thoughtless exercise of threatening social media companies, suing them, prosecuting Sowore, dragging the case out for almost a year, and then backing down shows that not much reasoning goes into running that agency.