The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi, has advocated for the implementation of a policy that would make it compulsory for academically brilliant students to be recruited into the security forces.
According to the DSS boss, it would be difficult for criminals to operate when the best academic minds are in the security institutions.
He, therefore, proposed that a policy be implemented to ensure the compulsory recruitment of first-class graduates into the intelligence agency, as a away of enhancing national security.
Henzodaily reports Ajayi made the submission during the 2025 Distinguished Personality Lecture held at the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies at the University of Ilorin in Kwara State, where he was represented by the Deputy Director of the DSS, Patrick Ikenweiwe.
The DSS boss added that the academia should be made to share details of students who have excelled in their various fields of study for recruitment into the security agencies.
Speaking on the topic, “The Roles of the DSS in Security, Peacekeeping, and National Integration,” Ajayi emphasized the critical role of proper recruitment and staffing processes of security agencies, advocating for the inclusion of only the most qualified individuals.
He said the recruitment of the best academic minds into the DSS be made a mandatory national policy.
He said, “Like I know, in Israel, there is one examination that students take to get admitted into the university. The moment you score above 70 marks, you have no option but to be sent to the university there.
“Tell me how would a ‘Dundee’ (dullard) be able to keep security in a criminal gang that is constituted of First Class people? You know, it takes intellect to track criminality.
“So, if I have my way in this country, and we keep praying that we do the right thing, the academia should be able to supply us, sincerely, the details of students who have excelled in their various fields of study so that they would be forced to serve this great nation.”