ONS’ Abdulai Caulker Breeds Confidence In Security Of The State
Mr. Abdulai Caulker is a seasoned Administrator and Security Sector Professional, with over twenty-one (21) years wealth of experience, and one of the few founding members of the Office of National Security (ONS), and had also played a pivotal role in the talent-spotting and recruitment of the current crop of Directors at the ONS. He holds a Master’s degree in Educational Administration (M.Ed), a Bachelor’s degree in Education (B.Ed), and a Higher Teacher’s Certificate (HTC).
In addition, he has pursued courses in numerous security and development subjects, which, among others, include Security Sector Reform, Human Resource Development, Conflict Analysis and Mediation, Early Warning and Early Response Techniques, and Change Management. He has worked with several development/or donor partners, including UNDP, DfID, ADB, IMATT, ISAT, etc., and has represented Sierra Leone in several high-level security conferences around Africa.
During the interregnum in 1997, Mr. Caulker served as National Chairman of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, and during that period, whilst in Conakry, he was appointed by the Government of Sierra Leone as Programme Officer to monitor sanction busters. He served for six (6) months until the Tejan Kabbah administration was restored to state power.
At the ONS, Mr. Caulker has served in various capacities, among which are: Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Unit (NIU) in charge of South and Eastern provinces from 1999 to 2000. From 2002 to 2008, he was Assistant Director of Administration and Finance and was later appointed Director of Administration and Finance.
In 2015, he was appointed Director of Finance and Corporate Service, a position he served until July 2018, when he was appointed as Deputy National Security Coordinator (DNS Coord) by His Excellency, President Brig (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio.
In the post-conflict security stabilization efforts, and up to recent times, Mr. Caulker, in his capacity as Director of Finance and Corporate Service at the ONS, has managed security sector portfolios for several years on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone.
These, among others, include the 14th August 2017 Flood and Mudslide Twin Disaster Account at the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank (SLCB); the 2018 National Elections and Early Warning and Early Response Project; the Security Sector Reform Implementation Project (SSR-IP) in Sierra Leone and the Construction of the Office of National Security Building project between 2006 and 2011.
It is no gainsaying that Sierra Leone needs more men with vision and experience like Mr. Abdulai Caulker.
Currently, the National Security Coordinator (NSCoord) in the Office of National Security (ONS) in Sierra Leone, Abdulai Caulker, has indicated that his priority is to ensure security across the country at all times.
Abdulai Caulker made the assurance to a galaxy of journalists at a recent public meeting. He is a veteran security expert, who had worked with the ONS before his appointment in 2018 to head the institution, which coordinates the activities of all the security apparatus in the country.
Since his appointment, he has served in the “distinguished position” by maintaining the “high standards” it had cultivated over the years. He is working with his colleague security authorities to justify the confidence reposed in him by his appointment, and in the “best interest” of the country.
President Julius Maada Bio is fully aware of the enormity of the task ahead of him, but he believes that the ONS Coordinator is not a stranger at the institution, and therefore is a source of assurance. He reposes immense confidence in Mr. Caulker.
ONS was established at the end of the Sierra Leone civil war in 2003, with the mandate of coordinating the national security and intelligence architecture of the country, and create the enabling environment for the operation of all the security apparatus. ONS serves as the secretariat of the National Security Council (NSC), which constitutes the highest level of authority in the security architecture of the country, and provides the coordination and oversight of the security sector.
© By Moses Kay Fembeh