Kayode Are was Director General of the Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

n State Security Service

State Security Service

State Security Service is the primary domestic intelligence agency of Nigeria. It is primarily responsible for the gathering of intelligence within the country and for the protection of senior government officials, particularly the President and state governors. It is one of three successor...

 throughout the two terms of President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007). He was replaced by Afakiriya Gadzama in 2007 by President Umaru Yar'Adua.

Director General of the SSS

Kayode Are is an Owu by origin. He had worked with Aliyu Gusau at the Directorate of Military Intelligence, and in 1999 was recommended by Gusau to Obasanjo.
He was head of the SSS until 2007.

Deputy National Security Adviser

In April 2010 Kayode Are was appointed Deputy National Security Adviser by President Goodluck Jonathan

Goodluck Jonathan

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, GCFR, BNER, GCON is the 14th Head of State and current President of Nigeria.He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the...

.
This was a newly created position.
When Aliyu Gusau resigned as National Security Advisor (NSA), Kayode Are took over as Acting NSA.
On 1 October 2010 during the 50 years Golden Jubilee Anniversary there was a bomb blast in Abuja

Abuja

Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...

.
Jonathan dismissed Are and appointed General Owoye Andrew Azazi

Owoye Andrew Azazi

General Owoye Andrew Azazi CFR FSS MSS DSS GSS psc fwc is the National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and a former Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria. The Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo made this appointment.General Azazi also served as the Chief of Army...

as NSA, effective 4 October 2010.
The announcement of the change said "The President thanked the outgoing NSA for his services, and wished him well in his future endeavours".