Whistleblowing, in its own way, is not a criminal act. However, there are the right channels to be adhered to for it to be effective and acceptable.
Mahdi Shehu as a whistleblower has taken for granted the regulatory trends of the law. He has been parading himself as a self-proclaimed messiah for Katsina State, and the voice of talakawa, as he supposedly claimed.
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He chose not to follow any of those due processes. He decided to do it in his own usual coarse way. But then, the arm of any government is stronger and longer than any single individual or group and can be used in punishing or stopping anyone who feels like breaking the laws in whatever capacity.
Mahdi has violated every rule in the game, ignoring the fact that he is vulnerable just like every other citizen, and can be punished. He blatantly accused the State Government, the traditional ruling houses, the security agencies, religious bodies and even some private individuals in the state of embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds.
His only proofs are the documents he had stolen from the government offices and doctored some of them to suit his claims without taking into consideration the impact of what they might do to him or the people he claims to represent.
It is pertinent to reiterate that there are acceptable means for one to channel his agitations, complaints, and grievances, which Mahdi completely ignored.
I will not dispute the fact that he is also an indigene of my state, Katsina, but I am beginning to doubt whether he has any interest in the well-being of my people or whether he is just releasing those monotonous episodes in an attempt to fulfill a bargain or to make a name for himself as a comrade.
Whichever one it is, I find his styles lousy and boring. There are better ways that he can be celebrated and a hero made out of him if he chooses a different approach. He is as wealthy and influential as one can be, and is inclined to help out others and put them on tracks of self-reliance and sustainability, but he chose not to do so because that kind of action is executable only by those who really mean it. One does not go about parading himself as a messiah and expects to be successful unless he has the peoples’ best interest at heart.
Some people feel that detaining Mahdi is illegal and even went out to make so much fuss about it that one might start thinking they actually cared. I keep wondering why those so-called activists only spring into action when someone famous or popular is concerned.
I am an indigene of Katsina and I have Katsina’s best interest at heart, and like every other well-meaning Bakatsine like myself, I find it absurd that Mahdi Shehu should parade himself, against all the oddities of logic, a self-proclaimed voice of the talakawa, pointing accusing fingers at the government and some few individuals within our society. He should expect a rebuttal from people who care or legal action from the authorities he offended.
There have been many incidents in the state, affecting other peoples’ lives and property but nobody is crying wolf. Now that the messiah is detained, they are all out to condemn the act and justify the name under which they hide. If at all anybody can call himself a human right activist, then all factors of selflessness and commitments need to be explored, not kowtowing to the interest of the few who can afford to remunerate.
Why is nobody talking about the release of people from the bondage of insecurity? Why, didn’t anybody caution Mahdi when he was instigating the people against the government of Katsina State?
Mamman Sule, Katsina.
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