Yusuf Magaji Bichi (born 23 February 1956) is the Director-General of the State Security Service.

Background and education

Bichi was born on 23 February 1956 in Hagagawa Qtrs of

Bichi Bichi is a Local Government Area and a headquarter of Bichi Emirate council in Kano State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Bichi on the A9 highway. Bichi was founded by danejawa the white herders under the leadership of Ardo buba ...

Local Government,

Kano State Kano State (Hausa: ''Jihar Kano''جىِهَر كَنوُ) (Fula: Leydi Kano 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤢𞤲𞤮𞥅 ) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. According to the national census done in ...

. Bichi attended Kano State College of Advanced Studies (1975–1977) and

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Al ...

, Zaria (1977–1980), where he graduated with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He attended strategic training at the National Defence College,

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

. obtaining a certificate with the authorization to use Fellow War College (FWC).

Career in the Security Services

Bichi began his career in the Security Division of the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

from 1981 to 1984, in 1984 he joined the defunct

Nigerian Security Organization The National Security Organization (NSO) of Nigeria, or Nigerian Security Organization, was created under Decree number 27 of 1976 by the military regime of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, after the failed Dimka coup which claimed the life of former H ...

(NSO), the precursor of the present State Security Service, now renamed Department of State Services, where he rose to the rank of director. He served as state director of security in

Jigawa State Jigawa State (Hausa: ''Jihar Jigawa'' (Fula Leydi Jigawa 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤮𞤤 𞤶𞤭𞤺𞤢𞤱𞤢) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. Created in 1991 from the northeastern-most region of Kan ...

(1998–1999),

Niger State Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was fo ...

(2000–2003),

Sokoto State Sokoto State (Hausa: Jihar Sokoto Fula: Leydi Sokoto 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤧𞤮𞥅𞤳𞤮𞥅𞤼𞤮𞥅) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country on the national border with the Niger, Republic o ...

(2003–2005) and

Abia State Abia State ( ig, Ȯha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the ...

(2005–2006). Subsequently, he served as director in the National Assembly Liaison (2006), Directorate of Security Enforcement (2007–2008), Directorate of Operations (2008–2009), Directorate of Intelligence (2009–2010), State Service Academy, Lagos (2010–2013), SSS Research Development Centre, Bauchi (2013–2014), Directorate of Inspection (2014–2015), Directorate of Administration and Finance (2015–2017).

Director General of the State Security Service

He was appointed by President

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

on 14 September 2018, replacing

Matthew Seiyefa Matthew Seiyefa MNI (born 17 October 1960) was the acting Director General of the Nigerian State Security Service from 7 August 2018 till September 2018; he was appointed by Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. Background and education He w ...

Awards

After the 2019 presidential election, an election monitoring group known as the International Human Rights Commission, Geneva, Switzerland, honored Bichi, with an award. According to the group, “the award was in recognition of the exemplary performance by the Service and its personnel during the just concluded 2019 general elections.” On 11 October 2022, he was conferred with the National Honour of

Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic The Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) is one of two orders of merit, established by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1963. It is senior to the Order of the Niger. The highest honours where the Grand Commander in the Order of the Federal R ...

(CFR) by President

, GCFR. The honour is in recognition of his sterling leadership qualities and particularly for his tremendous contributions to the national security management of the country.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bichi, Yusuf Magaji 1956 births Living people Nigerian government officials Ahmadu Bello University alumni