Intelligence Diplomacy and Nigeria’s Bilateral Security Intelligence Sharing Agreements

This study investigates Nigeria's bilateral intelligence sharing arrangements with key partner states, assessing the institutional framework, operational scope, and strategic value of these agreements in advancing Nigeria's national security interests. Intelligence cooperation has become an increasingly prominent feature of bilateral diplomacy in the context of transnational threats including terrorism, organised crime, and cyber espionage. Nigeria maintains intelligence cooperation relationships with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel, among others, coordinated primarily through the Department of State Services and the National Intelligence Agency. Drawing on intelligence studies and security partnership theory, this research analyses the structure and functioning of Nigeria's bilateral intelligence sharing frameworks from 2020 to 2024, examining how information is exchanged, how joint operations are coordinated, and how concerns about sovereignty and data security are managed. The study employs a qualitative methodology, drawing on available open-source intelligence policy documents, parliamentary testimony, academic literature, and expert interviews with retired security officials. The research focuses particularly on the utility of intelligence cooperation in the Boko Haram and ISWAP context in the North East. Findings are expected to show that intelligence partnerships provide real operational value but are constrained by asymmetric information flows and Nigeria's limited analytical capacity to process and act on shared intelligence. Keywords: intelligence diplomacy, security cooperation, Nigeria, counterterrorism, bilateral agreements.