My Security & Intelligence Training
My Security
Proposal
Our goals are to give the security team the skills and resources to be self-sufficient to protect the students, faculty, visitors, and facilities of Borno State University. This proposal will ensure that the university’s security system and security team can adjust to the situations and struggles that may transpire.
The purpose of our proposal is to guarantee the safety of everyone at Borno State University by creating a more effective way to report incidents. Our team developed a poster system that makes emergency response protocols more accessible. This means that students will have a better understanding of how to react during the event of a Boko Haram attack, fire, and sandstorm. The posters will be distributed throughout campus with step-by-step instructions on what the students should do in different emergencies and what the alerts mean.
The posters on incident protocols will help address the students’ security and protection more efficiently. With the high threats, the security team must have a total handle on the situation to ensure that Borno State University is a safer place for everyone.
My Security
Proposal
Presentation
Leadership Initiatives is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to creating future leaders globally through experiential learning.
In the National Security & Intelligence Internship, I worked directly with some of the world’s leading counterintelligence and counterterrorism experts to learn about national security and intelligence.
At the conclusion of the internship, I presented my security proposal to a distinguished panel of judges, which included Chris Fox, Lynn Clarke, and Umar Muhammad.
Internship Highlights
- Meeting The Firm
- Security Mentors
- OPSEC
- Security Tours

Our team began developing our solution by meeting the security company at Borno State University through a Skype meeting with the security guards.
Throughout the week, we had several calls with the security company. We discovered the threats faced by Borno State University, asked dozens of questions about the security situation, and learned about the university in the context of a wider security crisis in Borno State, Nigeria.
Once we compiled all the information, our team outlined security protocols for the security company through a SWOT analysis, which stands for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.”
Throughout our protocol-development process, we worked with staff at Leadership Initiatives in Nigeria, mentors, and national security experts in order to polish our proposal and final presentation.

Throughout the course of the week, we met with various experts in national security and intelligence, including Dick America, Ben Taylor, Ellie Constantine, Bill Stefan, and Chris Fox.
Our mentors offered us insights on our projects every step of the way. We gained valuable knowledge in various areas in intelligence and counterintelligence, which in turn helped us prepare the best security protocols possible.
Besides consultation, we had the opportunity to learn about each mentor’s contribution to the safety of the nation and the field of national security itself. We asked them about the basics of the field, its future, and everything in between.

Throughout the internship we met with distinguished guest speakers including Terry Quist, an adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University and Division Chief working for the Department of the Army, who delivered our opening Keynote.
Mr. Quist as well as Rohin Sharma, a former military intelligence officer and instructor at Georgetown University, gave introductory lectures on intelligence. We also got to ask countless questions and learn about their paths into the world of national security.
We learned about the State Department from none other than the former Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs, Maura Harty, who also served as the U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay.
We delved into the military side of national security with Colonel Campbell, where we learned about military operations and logistical planning. Through his lecture and a panel representing each branch of the armed forces, we learned extensively about the role of the military in national security.
Lynne Clark’s lecture on the practical application of the operational security process built off of the rest of the information we had learned, and provided valuable insight when working on ou security protocols.

We visited the University of Maryland Crime Lab where we learned about the importance of forensics in the field of national security from Tom Mauriello, a senior lecturer and laboratory instructor for the past 45 years. We even got to tour a crime scene recreation that undergraduate students use in their courses!
We also took a tour of the Homeland Security Investigations Technical Operations Center, which specialized in equipping ICE with cutting edge electronic surveillance tools as well as enhancing national security operations. We toured an armored vehicle with special surveillance equipment, tested out thermal imaging goggles used in the field, and more!
Last but not least, we toured the Homeland Security Investigations Field Office. We split our time checking out a variety of devices and (unloaded) weapons through a demonstration by HSI special agents. We even got a tour and a short trip in a Lenco BearCat armored vehicle, a SWAT vehicle used for military and law enforcement use. We also got to learn more about careers in HSI by speaking directly with special agents.